Perfume Genius Glory
Perfume Genius's Glory opens as a vividly cinematic chronicle of queerness, aging and grief, and critics agree it largely succeeds in turning those big themes into memorable songs. Across 14 professional reviews the record earned a 79.64/100 consensus score, and reviewers consistently point to moments of orchestral expansion and textural experimentation that make the strongest tracks feel both intimate and monumental.
Critics name “No Front Teeth”, “It’s a Mirror”, “Left For Tomorrow” and “In a Row” among the best songs on Glory. Reviews from Pitchfork, Clash and The Line of Best Fit highlight how “No Front Teeth” flips from restraint to full-band thrash, while “It’s a Mirror” pins paranoia with brittle guitar and a thrilling vocal edge. Conversely, outlets including The Needle Drop and Sputnikmusic note that several tracks sit as mood pieces or underdeveloped sketches, so the record's balance of tenderness versus bombast feels deliberate but occasionally uneven. Many critics praise the album's band-driven sound, 90s-tinged alt-rock influence and confessional pop lyricism, framing the work as a return to form that foregrounds queer adulthood, memory and mortality.
Taken together the critical consensus suggests Glory is worth listening to for its high points: the visceral peaks of “No Front Teeth” and the unsettling clarity of “It’s a Mirror”, plus the quieter grace of “Left For Tomorrow” and “In a Row”. Whether admired for its cinematic atmosphere or questioned for occasional instrumental indecision, the album stakes Perfume Genius' place as a songwriter unafraid of vulnerability and spectacle; the full reviews below unpack why those tensions make Glory a compelling, if sometimes divisive, addition to his catalog.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
No Front Teeth
12 mentions
"When "No Front Teeth" launches into mayhem—an overwhelming plunge into rootsy rock and roll"— Paste Magazine
In a Row (alternate quote)
1 mention
"“Take me the long way round / Think of all the poems I’ll get out,” our narrator says, triumphant."— The A.V. Club
It's a Mirror
13 mentions
"opener "It’s a Mirror" kicks off with a crunchy riff and grows into a linear, R.E.M.-coded head-banger."— Paste Magazine
When "No Front Teeth" launches into mayhem—an overwhelming plunge into rootsy rock and roll
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
It's a Mirror
No Front Teeth
Clean Heart
Me & Angel
Left For Tomorrow
Full On
Capezio
Dion
In a Row
Hanging Out
Glory
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 13 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
For listeners searching for the best songs on Glory, Perfume Genius’s standout moments include “No Front Teeth”, “Clean Heart”, and the sequence from “Me & Angel” through “Hanging Out”. The review highlights “No Front Teeth” as a standout single and praises the mesmerizing vocals and instrumental textures of “Clean Heart”. Tracks 3–10 are described as unfurling seamlessly, making songs like “Me & Angel”, “Left For Tomorrow” and “Dion” essential listens. Overall, Glory is celebrated for balancing pop essentials with avant-garde textures, producing many of the best tracks on Glory.
Key Points
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“No Front Teeth” and “Clean Heart” are highlighted as the album’s best tracks for vocal contrast and mesmerizing sequences.
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Glory’s core strengths are its balance of pop songcraft with avant-garde textures and emotionally resonant lyrics.
Themes
Th
Critic's Take
Hi, everyone. Lifethony Choicetano here, and on Perfume Genius's Glory the best tracks are the ones that actually feel dangerous and specific - “It’s a Mirror” and “In a Row” stand out. “It’s a Mirror” thrills with crisp, angular acoustic licks and a country-tinged guitar that highlights Mike Hadreas' intensified vibrato and fearful lyrics. “In a Row” is one of the strangest and most affecting moments, a tense, cinematic piece about being trapped that reaches real emotional peaks. Sadly, the record too often drifts into vague, underdeveloped mood pieces and conventional balladry, leaving many tracks less memorable than they should be.
Key Points
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The best song is "In a Row" because of its tense instrumentation, vivid narrative, and peak emotional delivery.
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The album's core strengths are Mike Hadreas's vocal performances and moments of cinematic atmosphere, but many tracks feel underdeveloped or directionless.
Themes
Critic's Take
The best songs on Glory are highlighted by relaxed intimacy and conventional hooks: “Left For Tomorrow” stands out as a chill oasis, while “Clean Heart” and “No Front Teeth” are among the album's strongest, more conventional tracks. Glory’s lush production and soothing instrumentation make it easy to answer “best tracks on Glory” with these calmer moments. The record favors inward peace over apocalyptic fury, explaining why fans seeking immediacy may find fewer standout moments. Overall, Left For Tomorrow, Clean Heart, and No Front Teeth emerge as the best songs on Glory for their warmth, accessibility, and evocative arrangements.
Key Points
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Left For Tomorrow is the album's best track for its serene saxophone and fretless bass creating a standout oasis.
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Glory's core strengths are lush production, alluring vocals, and a calming, inward-looking mood despite some emotional distance.
Critic's Take
The best songs on Glory are highlighted as "Clean Heart", "Full On" and "Hanging Out" for their lush textures, emotional clarity and adventurous instrumentation. Glory’s top tracks showcase Hadreas’ gift for turning intimate lyricism into expansive, texturally dense songs. Critics praise "Full On" as the centerpiece and single out "Clean Heart" for its hopeful, reborn feeling. Those searching for the best tracks on Glory will find the album’s strongest moments in these songs, which balance tenderness and bold sonic ambition.
Key Points
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"Clean Heart" and "Full On" stand out for their emotional clarity, instrumental ambition and rewarding textures.
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Glory’s core strengths are its dense, textural arrangements and Hadreas’ ability to marry intimate lyricism with expansive sonic ambition.
Themes
Critic's Take
The best songs on Glory are highlighted by "It's a Mirror" and "No Front Teeth," which the review singles out as standout tracks showcasing Perfume Genius's blend of confessional pop and queer storytelling. "It's a Mirror" is called classic Perfume Genius—joyous, brash and evocative—making it one of the best tracks on Glory. "No Front Teeth," featuring Aldous Harding, is noted as a standout cut with '90s-driven folksy Americana energy, marking it among the best songs on Glory. The refined "Clean Heart" and the fragile-masculinity exploration in "Full On" also receive praise for reinforcing the album's strengths and return-to-form aesthetic.
Key Points
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"It's a Mirror" is the best song for its classic Perfume Genius blend of joy, brashness and evocative imagery.
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The album's core strengths are confessional songwriting, queer storytelling, and a balanced mix of melody and noise.
Themes
Critic's Take
The best songs on Glory are highlighted for their emotional clarity and daring arrangements, especially "No Front Teeth", "It's a Mirror" and the closing title track "Glory". Reviewers praise the album's blend of 90s-tinged alt-rock power and intimate minimalism, making the best tracks on Glory stand out for visceral moments and quiet surprises. "No Front Teeth" is singled out as an Alpine peak of bloodied pain and thrilling guitar, while "It's a Mirror" is celebrated as a supremely effective opener. The title track "Glory" is described as a whispered incantation and the perfect moment of closure, cementing these as the album's standout songs.
Key Points
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The best song is No Front Teeth for its visceral guitar moment and emotional intensity.
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The album's core strengths are emotional clarity, a mix of 90s-influenced alt-rock power and spare minimalism, and confident songwriting.
Themes
Critic's Take
Perfume Genius’s Glory settles into elegiac moods where the best tracks - especially “No Front Teeth” and “It’s a Mirror” - dramatize anxiety and strange beauty with jolting dynamics and vivid detail. Marissa Lorusso’s ear catches the album’s pleasures in the way “No Front Teeth” flips from restrained elegance to full-band thrash, and how “It’s a Mirror” pins paranoia in a belted, aching line. The record’s quieter sketches like “Left for Tomorrow” and “Capezio” linger as reveries, proof that the best songs on Glory are those that balance tenderness and abrupt, unsettling shifts. This is an album where the best tracks reward repeated listening, revealing both grief and startling musical craft.
Key Points
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“No Front Teeth” is the best song for its thrilling dynamic whiplash and vivid arrangement.
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The album’s core strengths are its detailed production, emotional candor about anxiety and grief, and balance of beauty with strange, idiosyncratic textures.
Themes
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Critic's Take
In his clear-eyed appraisal Reuben Cross frames Perfume Genius's Glory as a record of steady growth and textured returns, singling out the muscular thrust of “It’s A Mirror” and the brazen rock of “No Front Teeth” as some of the best songs on Glory. He writes with a measured admiration that privileges character studies and vignettes over grand conceptual gambits, noting tenderness and euphoric darkness in equal measure. The reviewer's voice is observant and exact, praising moments like “Hanging Out” as a late-album high point while still allowing quieter pieces like “Me & Angel” to register as exquisite. Overall, Cross positions these best tracks as the evidence that Hadreas has regained a clearer songwriting focus after the divisive detour of Ugly Season.
Key Points
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No Front Teeth is the standout for its heavy, defiant rock energy that cements Hadreas' growth.
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The album's core strengths are textured arrangements and a balance of muscularity and tenderness in Hadreas' songwriting.
Themes
Critic's Take
Perfume Genius's Glory reads like a midlife cinema that stages time's theft with dazzling, often terrifying clarity, and the best songs on Glory prove the point. “It’s a Mirror” and “Left for Tomorrow” carry the album's center of gravity - the former lures you into a halted reprise that then surges as if the future is a mirror of the past, the latter drips with breathless synthlines imagining loss. At the same time “No Front Teeth” and “Hanging Out” supply career-defining moments and chilly reconciliation, making them undeniable best tracks on Glory. This is Hadreas at his most cinematic, queering country with jolting surprises and lyricism that always lands a punch.
Key Points
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“It’s a Mirror” is best for its surging structure and sharp, punchy lyrics that dramatize time’s recurrence.
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The album’s core strength is cinematic treatment of time and aging, queering country with vivid lyricism and jolting production.
Themes
Critic's Take
Perfume Genius’s Glory feels like an admission and a flourish, its best tracks staking the claim: “In a Row” for thunderous drama and “Full On” for dreamy retrospective trauma. Ben Tipple’s prose celebrates the record’s orchestral sweep and Mike Hadreas’ darkly poetic lyricism, arguing that collaboration with Blake Mills and Alan Wyffels births the project’s most expansive music to date. The narrative frames these songs as the album’s emotional pinnacles, where restraint and crescendo meet, and positions them as the clear best tracks on Glory because they most fully realise the album’s tension between the public and the private. The conclusion suggests that glory can be loud or exist quietly, which is why these two songs stand out as the core highlights.
Key Points
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The best song, “In a Row”, is best because it delivers the album’s thunderous orchestral drama and emotional peak.
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The album’s core strengths are its orchestral expansion and Mike Hadreas’ darkly poetic lyricism, realised through close collaboration.
Themes
Critic's Take
The best songs on Glory are highlighted by intimate storytelling and layered arrangements; standout tracks like "It’s a Mirror", "No Front Teeth", and "In a Row" showcase Hadreas’s delicate vocals and emotional range. "It’s a Mirror" and the Aldous Harding-assisted "No Front Teeth" bring earthier, rootsy moments that contrast the album’s ethereal center. "In a Row" is described as Glory’s propulsive apex, pairing disorientation with a near-transcendent wall of sound. These best tracks exemplify why Glory’s quiet triumphs and orchestral textures make it one of Perfume Genius’s most introspective records.
Key Points
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"In a Row" is the album’s emotional and sonic apex, pairing disorientation with a nearly transcendent wall of sound.
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Glory’s core strengths are intimate, orchestral arrangements and restrained catharsis that turn confinement into quiet triumphs.
Themes
Critic's Take
Perfume Genius arrives boldly on Glory, with the best songs - notably “No Front Teeth” and “Capezio” - pushing his work into full-throated rock and vivid vignette territory. Inglis writes with a delighted relish for bombast and tenderness, calling the opener and its follow-up moments that "fucking rock" while still admiring the album's quieter gothic experiments. The review frames the best tracks as both immediate - the instantly iconic riff of “No Front Teeth” - and intimate - the voyeuristic specificity of “Capezio” - which is why listeners searching for the best tracks on Glory should start there. The result is an album that balances adventurous production with clear, human storytelling, making those songs stand out as the record's definitive high points.
Key Points
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The best song is "No Front Teeth" for its instantly iconic guitar and bold blend of classic rock with tenderness.
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The album’s core strengths are a band-driven sound that balances bombast and intimate storytelling, exploring body, aging, and queer middle age.
Themes
Critic's Take
Perfume Genius’s Glory is at its most affecting when it slows time down to a single human heartbeat, and the best songs on Glory - “Full On”, “Clean Heart” and “Left For Tomorrow” - make that palpably clear. Drew Gillis lingers on images that are scalpel-sharp yet impressionistic, praising how “Clean Heart” measures heartbreak in distance and how “Full On” functions as the album’s centerpiece. The review’s voice foregrounds small, unsettling moments - the ghostly compression of “Capezio” and the dark humor of “In a Row” - to explain why these tracks stand out. Ultimately the record’s strengths are its intimate moments and precise writing, which make the best tracks on Glory deeply memorable.
Key Points
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“Full On” is best for its emotional centerpiece quality and striking imagery that the reviewer calls absolutely stunning.
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The album’s core strengths are its focus on time, intimate moment-sharing, and precise, impressionistic lyrics.