Set My Heart on Fire Immediately is the fifth studio album by American musician Perfume Genius, released May 15, 2020 through Matador Records as the follow-up to 2017's No Shape. The album received critical acclaim upon release, with some critics calling it Hadreas' best work to date, praising its exploration of queer themes and homages to 80s pop and classic rock music.
Set My Heart on Fire Immediately is an art rock and pop album that features elements of baroque pop, art pop, synthpop, funk, alt-pop, shoegaze, ambient, psychedelic, R&B, acoustic pop, disco, swamp rock, chamber, doo-wop, industrial, and heartland rock.
Background In an interview with Jia Tolentino, Mike Hadreas described the album as influenced by his work with choreographer Kate Wallich on a 2019 dance piece titled "The Sun Still Burns Here". Hadreas composed numerous songs for the performance, with two singles, "Eye in the Wall" and "Pop Song" resulting, though neither was included on Set My Heart on Fire Immediately but its 2022 successor Ugly Season. Of the experience, Hadreas explained that the themes of embodiment in his prior music were complicated as dance felt "rebellious against [his] body." He explained that dancing "blew up this separation between [his] work and the world," resulting in changes to his songwriting, with songs now telling stories grounded in real-life settings and about real people. He cited Townes Van Zandt, Enya, and Cocteau Twins as influences on the new album.
Critical reception
Set My Heart on Fire Immediately received rave reviews. At review aggregator Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received a weighted average score of 91 out of 100, based on 25 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim" and making it Perfume Genius' highest rated album on the website.
Accolades +Accolades for Set My Heart on Fire Immediately Publication Accolade Rank BBCThe Best Albums and Songs of 2020 Billboard Billboards 50 Best Albums of 2020 – Mid-Year Consequence of Sound The 50 Best Albums of 2020 Entertainment Weekly The best albums of 2020... so far The 15 Best Albums of 2020 Gaffa 2020's 20 Best Foreign Albums Gigwise The Gigwise 51 Best Albums of 2020 The Line of Best Fit The Best Albums of 2020 Ranked NPR The 50 Best Albums of 2020 Paste Pastes 25 Best Albums of 2020 – Mid-Year Pitchfork The 50 Best Albums of 2020 Slant The Best Albums of 2020 (So Far) Spin Spins 30 Best Albums of 2020 – Mid-Year Stereogum Stereogums 50 Best Albums of 2020 – Mid-Year The 50 Best Albums of 2020 Time Best Albums of 2020 Under the Radar Under the Radars Top 100 Albums of 2020 Uproxx The Best Albums Of 2020 So Far Variety Varietys Best Albums of 2020 – Mid-Year
Track listing
Personnel Musicians Mike Hadreas – vocals (all tracks), synthesizers (1, 2, 5, 7, 10, 12, 13), Wurlitzer (4) Blake Mills – guitar (1–3, 7–9, 11, 12), bass (1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 11), synthesizers (1, 4, 8, 10, 12, 13), drums (1), glockenspiel (1), synth guitar (6, 11), harmony vocals (6, 10, 11), organ (8, 10), piano (11, 12), synth drums (12), harmonium (13) Matt Chamberlain – additional drums (1), drums (4, 6, 7, 10, 12) Rob Moose – violin (1, 3–5, 9, 13), viola (1, 3–5, 9, 13) Alan Wyffels – piano (1, 12), organ (3, 9), harpsichord (4), synthesizers (5, 8, 12), harmony vocals (7), flute (8), Wurlitzer (12), Rhodes (13) Jim Keltner – drums (2, 3, 9, 11) Pino Palladino – bass (2, 6, 7) Gabriel Cabezas – cello (3, 4, 9, 13) Sam Gendel – synthesizers (4), saxophone (7, 8, 12), synth drums (7), drum machine (7, 10) Phoebe Bridgers – harmony vocals (6) Ethan Gruska – harmony vocals (6), vocals (6), percussion (6)
Engineers Blake Mills – production Joseph Lorge – engineering Greg Koller – engineering, mixing Patricia Sullivan – mastering Ian Sefchick – mastering
Artwork Camille Vivier – photographs Andrew J. S. – art direction
Charts +Chart performance for Set My Heart on Fire Immediately Chart (2020) Peakposition
Remix album
A remix album, titled Immediately Remixes (stylized as IMMEDIATELY Remixes), was announced on January 14, 2021. It was initially announced for release on February 19, 2021, however it was delayed until March 12, 2021. It received a limited vinyl release for Record Store Day 2021.
It was preceded by the singles, "On the Floor (Initial Talk Remix)", "Without You (Jim-E Stack Remix)", "Your Body Changes Everything (Boy Harsher Remix)", and "Describe (A. G. Cook Remix)", released April 29, 2020, December 3, 2020, January 14, 2021, and March 3, 2021, respectively.
Track listing
References