The opening stretch of 'Natural High' is dark and drumless, an expansive and windswept plain, haunted by almost whisper-sung vocals. This is the mood set by Mike Hadreas, the architect behind Perfume Genius, on a track which shows his usual elegance in flicking between genres as if they were radio stations in his musical mind.

Perhaps 'move scenes' would be a more accurate metaphor than a radio station; after all, this newest single, like much of Hadreas' work, is conceived as part of a visual performance. 'Natural High' is a single from The Lesson, a performance piece based on Jelinek's novel The Piano Teacher and its Michael Haneke film adaptation; though I've neither read the book nor seen the film, the song feels like it must belong to a gloomy cinematic world. This basic idea - music set to films, either actual ones or imaginary ones - has been at work over Hadreas' whole career. Even the first Perfume Genius records seem to move beyond just balladry, conjuring up endless internal music videos which play out in the listener's head. 'Fool' from 2014's Too Bright is one of many examples of a song which seems to live within the semi-fictional world which is both hostile and fantastical; Hadreas is broadcasting from there and, though only gloomily, you start to see it.

So when 'Natural High' suddenly changes velocity in its final two minutes, it feels more like a scene cut than a new section of the song. Soft synths pulse into a thumping dance breakdown which never quite builds to an apex, as Hadreas' vocals peal into a delicate falsetto. Listeners will visualise a dancefloor, but it's a shadowy one, and the euphoric beat is offset by desolate lyrics: "let me drift on your shoreline, pale and alone". Long-time Perfume Genius fans will know that this bleakness is nothing new - it was always darkening the edges of Hadreas' songs - but this is like being enveloped in it. But it's achieved through a ferocious attention to craft, and a lush array of sonic details, including breathily semi-whispered vocals and twinkling marimbas (the latter recalls The Knife's gorgeously gloomy 'Silent Shout'). That immersiveness perfectly tracks with Hadreas' desire to put this into performance, and combined with Kate Wallich's choreography at an upcoming show at London's Barbican Centre, it promises to be mesmerising.

Alex Bentley

Image: 'Natural High' Official Single Cover