The troubadour, real name Mike Hadreas, has penned two albums of indie pop that are brutally honest about his life, and the ups and downs in it, from relationships to his battles with drugs and drink.

It's the sort of searingly strong stuff that stands out from the crowd, and has marked Mike as an artist on the rise.

He's set to headline the SWG3 venue in Glasgow tomorrow night as part of the ongoing No Mean City festival.

But clearly not everyone was impressed with this year's Put Your Back In 2 It record.

"I am very satisfied with the record," he says, reflecting on the album.

"I've received many letters and people have written such nice things.

"I have also received some death threats, which means I must be doing something right, as even those idiots are feeling something from the music."

Mike's been in other hot water this year, with one of his videos banned from Youtube due to scenes showing the singer embracing another man.

When it comes to his actual music, the 25-year-old from Seattle had some issues too, struggling at first to write the songs that formed Put Your Back In 2 It.

Yet not only did he find enough material, he was able to deliver an album that's more hopeful than his bleak debut, Learning, which was released in 2010.

"It was important to me that I didn't just mine my back catalogue of rubbish experiences for inspiration," he says.

"People had written to me after the first album, and I thought of it as an obligation to write more upbeat things.

"I do not plan on being broken, I do not plan on not sorting out my shame. I am going to carry on and I want all my buddies and all the people that wrote to me to carry on.

"I tried to be mindful of that while I was writing."

While the pop planet is currently covered with a host of songs all about partying, Mike tends to focus mostly on more emotional material. But that doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy himself.

"I like to party, although it looks different now that I don't do drugs or drink, there is definitely a lot more pizza involved," he says.

"Party music is important in its own way, but all the songs that have been important to me are not club bangers.

"I don't think it ever truly goes against the tide to be sensitive.

"Everybody needs it. Adele's singing along to her piano and the whole world is crying."

While Mike mentioned Adele, there's another songbird that he's a bigger fan of, in the shape of Lana Del Ray, who exploded onto the music scene last year amid an avalanche of hype.

But the American songstress had to take quite a bit of flak over her career being reinvented, and her authenticity was questioned.

That prompts an angry response from Mike, who feels such claims are made out of nothing more than sexism.

He says: "Naturally I love lady pop stars, and she gets me with all those Lynchian elements in her music.

"Maybe it's not the best album in the world but it is certainly not the worst, she is just doing her thing.

"People don't like to see an artist obviously 'try,' they want to think everything just bubbles up naturally. People are much harsher on women if there is any element of contrivance, which is rubbish.

"You know [Seattle folk/rock band] Fleet Foxes spent time working on those beards.

"You know those dudes are thinking 'where is the backlash against us?'

"Nobody is looking into their back story, to see if they actually time travelled from the 1960s or whatever.

"Who's checking the tag on their overalls to see how rich their daddies are? Nobody."

Mike has one key hope at the moment – that he'll have time to check out Glasgow, as he prepares to headline at SWG3 this Tuesday.

"I have heard a lot of good things, but unfortunately have never had the time to look around," he says.

"Hopefully this trip will be different."

n Perfume Genius, SWG3, 100 Eastvale Place, tomorrow, £10, 7pm.