Pefume Genius’ “Die 4 You” is a song that is about all-consuming love and also choking a partner during sex. As Mike Hadreas told NPR the “breath-control fetish language” is there to “communicate a willingness to really give yourself to someone completely.” That left the singer a lot of potential roads to go down when it came time to shoot the video for the track off of his latest album No Shape. True to form, he took none of them.
While the video for the spare and vulnerable track does feature some nods toward erotic asphyxiation — there’s a scene toward the end that shows people wrapped up in plastic — it’s more focused on the first half of that phrase. The clip largely consists of Hadreas writhing on top of a series of interesting chairs — which makes this probably the only video about fetish asphyxiation that you can watch at work. And that’s great because “Die 4 You” — like “Go Ahead” and “Slip Away” before it — is a great song from an excellent album.
If you want to see how Hadreas translates this song live — and honestly, you probably should if you like music — then you are in luck. Perfume Genius begins his tour today, with a stop at Marfa Myths, and will continue to travel on No Shape through July.
