I’ve all but dropped off the face of J-Pop blogging down a precipice into a cavern of internet silence… but this album makes me want to write about them.

Even the quickest of ganders around my blog shows that I love Perfume. A lot. I thought ⊿ was fabulous, even if not up to GAME’s standards, and I loved “Fushizen na Girl.” But I wasn’t a particular fan of “Voice”. Nor did I enjoy “Nee” as much as their other hits. That, coupled with real life worries (those pesky bills! troublesome jobs!) turned me from someone who checked the Tokuma Japan website to someone who would see Perfume on Music Station and be pleasantly surprised.

It’s not like I hated their new songs – they still got a fair amount of listens. But unlike some of their earlier songs I didn’t get that spark from some of those releases – it sounded standard J-pop, or standard Perfume. Still good. Just done before.

Is JPN a genre breaking, revolutionary album in the field of technopop? No.

But god, I’ll say it now – it’s good.

The album starts off with The Opening and it’s simple. Atmospheric.  Rhythmic. It’s startlingly sophisticated and haunting.

Then follows is remix of Laser Beam that seamlessly flows into the remix of GLITTER. I wasn’t impressed with the latter as a single because it was somewhat standard – but the remix, even if it was just an extension of the instrumental parts, added some discord into the song structure and made it much more interesting.

The album then deviates into a string of what Perfume seems to be turning out more of: bubbly, happy songs. The laid back Naturally ni Koi Shite is followed by the slightly perkier new song MY COLOR, which I love – a cheerful and catchy tune backed with a driven beat and some heavy synth. Next is Toki ni Hari, which is simple and sounds like a children’s song, with snare drum, a repetitive and simple refrain, and almost no (and possibly, none) autotuning of the girls’ voices. I don’t like it as a song by itself – to be blunt, it’s boring – but if thought of as an interlude, it closes off the string of downswing songs.

Nee bursts in with energy, and is followed by Kasukana Kaori. I thought both of these were standard as singles – good, catchy, perhaps not a legendary song but enjoyable. The energy continues into 575 which I think is one of the more strangely innovative songs that exist in their repertoire (and possibly the reason it was included in the album, even as a B-side!) Strain refrains with a soft synth, great chorus tune, and sing-talk Perfume-style rapping. It’s gorgeous and dreamy. VOICE, which was the accompanying A-side, follows, and as the two songs have a similar atmosphere, it’s a good order.

Two more new songs follow: Kokoro no Sports and Have a Stroll. Kokoro no Sports follows in the footsteps of MY COLOR with a happy tune but less synth – catchy, but not as great as the previous new song. I find Have a Stroll much more engaging: instead of a easily navigable tune, parts of it feel more like sing-talking again. The style of the song reminds me of Triangle era, though I can’t place why – possibly the dreamy cold synth used? It’s an enjoyable new song.

Fushizen na Girl and Spice round out the album – incidentally, my two favorite singles on this album, blending a strong dance song with the more atmospheric Spice. I personally love Spice – I think it’s interesting, multilayered, beautifully composed, and manages to be romantically dreamy without being slow. I think ending the album with this last single is showing direction towards what Perfume will be going towards next.

I love it. It doesn’t contain my favorite singles of Perfume but still manages to be an amazing comprehensive package. It also manages to have its own album identity. I would say the overall atmosphere of GAME was powerful and strongly electronic. ⊿ focused towards a sound more futuristic, hectic, and full of cold synths. JPN seems to be simultaneously cuter and more sophisticated, with many of the newer songs slightly tending towards shibuya-kei of decade prior. It’s almost like they’re taking steps back from being the technopop darlings and into idol territory, except with a new sense of class.

Once again, Perfume releases an album with gems that add just a different shade of tone to their discography.  Despite not containing the strongest singles, the album flows well and is interesting. Maybe one day Perfume and Nakata will have gone through every possible sound transformation – and with some of Perfume’s singles getting more cute and idol-like, that is definitely a possibility – but that day did not come with JPN. You’ve still got my ears’ full attention, Perfume.

What differentiates a pop idol from being a pop musician?

An person who can be an idol is different in every culture, but when you think of it in terms of a J-pop idol, you’d think AKB48, Johnny’s Entertainment, and Hello! Project, amongst dozens of smaller companies and lesser known groups. Those are our idols: good looking but down to earth entertainers who can (sometimes) sing, (sometimes) act, (sometimes) host, and (always) charm the pants off of their demographic, whether its 12 year old girls or 50 year old men.

They release a fairly consistent strain of pop music that’s rarely musically acclaimed but often catchy and fun. Many of them show themselves on entertainment shows.

Recently, a string of idol groups are being imported from Korea and hitting it big in Japan: Girls’ Generation (SNSD), Big Bang, Kara, and 4minute are all making an impact upon dozens more that have tried or are planning to release. And there’s no way to mention this without mentioning TVXQ, which in their heyday was (and still is) highly regarded and loved in Japan. In Korea, these groups are referred to as idol groups, but in Japan, their style is completely different.

Big Bang’s hip pop music and urban style dance is much different from Arashi’s tunes and semi-synchronized dances. SNSD and Kara’s leg baring, hip shaking dances are nothing like AKB48′s cute group dances. Big Bang’s music resonates more towards J-urban artists than Johnny’s, while a SNSD member would look more at place posing amongst artists like Amuro Namie or Suzuki Ami – sexy, sophisticated, and definitely grown up.

In Korea, it’s easy to define an idol – are you in a group, or were at one point in a group? Are you in a group of people who sing and dance at the same time? Are you trained and your career decisions made by a higher up? Do more people focus on how your look versus how well you sing? Congratulations, you’re an idol.

In Japan though, it’s hard to tell who is an idol selling idol pop and who is a musician selling pop that sounds like idol pop. Amuro Namie was in a idol group but with her urban style in the 90s and continuing success in the new millennium, its doubtful anyone still considers her as an idol star. Matchy debuted and still remains in Johnny’s Entertainment, but does anyone really regard this middle aged singers’ songs as idol songs, even though his fans are probably still remnants from his idol days? Perfume definitely started as an idol group, but these days they’re regarded everywhere as a pop unit – possibly due to their electropop sound, and possibly due to the fact that they’ve steered clear of the bikini-wearing, wota-handshaking overly cute gestures that plague idoldom.

The line is blurred even more for bands that don’t start out as idols but somehow turn into them. Scandal has the cute looks, the schoolgirl outfit gimmick – but they formed on their own and play their own rock music, though their music is more like idol-rock sound. Otsuka Ai plays the cutest, love-saturated songs ever, but they’re all music she wrote and composed herself. Are they idols?

Yet these Korean stars walk into the scenes, and despite releasing music and showing images that are less like Japan’s idols and more like Japan’s artists, they are still idols.

Does it come down to artistic creation – that is, if you take part in crafting your music or image, then you belong to yourself as an artist, not an idol? Even before she gained much more power over her career, Ayumi Hamasaki wrote much of her own music, therefore she had a stake in her career, becoming more of an artist. If Yamapi of NEWS started writing his own songs for his solo releases, would that make him less of an idol? What if you’re like Yuna Ito, who does not write for her song? Is she less of an artist and more of an idol?

Is it the training? Idol companies often audition their talents. Hello!Project, Johnny’s Entertainment, the AKB Franchise, they all have dozens of trainees under different names that they are training. Is it simply where you learn your trade that differentiates you being an artist or an idol?

Is it all in your marketing – whether you’re selling your image versus your song? Or maybe your activities – are you just a singer, or a singer-actress-talento – that defines you? But who is to say that artists can’t be artists in multiple media? Is Shibasaki Kou any less of a great actress by her singing, and is her singing doomed to be “idol pop” just because she can act as well?

Or is it just defined by how many people love you? AKB48 has a devoted following. Arashi has a devoted following. YUI also has a devoted following, loving her as much as they love her music. Is YUI, despite starting out as an indie singer-songwriter, an idol now?

This, really, remains my open question: what defines an idol?

No matter what your favorite idols say about your love and devotion, your strongest contribution to them continues to be your wallet. Whether you’re purchasing their records or their concert tickets, it’s your dollars and yen that make the real difference.

It’s something everyone knows but doesn’t want to admit. The record companies are especially adroit at sidestepping the implication of using the fans for their money.  Avex often presses multiple copies of the same release with the exact same musical content, just different covers – just limited editions masquerading as “treats” for fans. Johnny’s presses multiple versions and emphasizes that their groups reach #1 on the Oricon, with a something-single streak – as a good fan, you’d want to get all the songs and support your band, don’t you?

But your love for the artist is definitely #1. They encourage fanmail. When balloting for something, you’re limited to how many you can apply for. We appreciate your money, the record companies say, but it’s still all about how much you love the artist! Your passion, your time, your devotion – how much you buy is just a little extra.

AKB48 goes a little differently – with the senbatsu rankings. While the thought of having fans decide firsthand the direction and fate of their idols, it’s the voting method that’s interesting to me. For the girls of AKB48, it’s not about how many of your fans join the fanclub, and how many devoted hours they spend lining up for your tickets and goods – all they have to do is reach in their pockets and hand over stacks of yen. You could buy hundreds of thousands of copies of their single and make the least popular girl in the company the top star, all by your own power. It’s no longer about how passionate the feelings in your heart are – it’s all about how much money you can spend.

It’s a shady business, it’s cruel to the girls, and it’s absolutely brilliant. Why ARE we limited to one vote per person, per fanclub member? It’s unfair to the fans who don’t have that much money to spend, but it motivates. A guy working in a convenience store who is a diehard fan of Ooto Aika, who’s on borderline for making it into the senbatsu single or not – well, he might just skip lunch a few days and pick up  a second single to submit an extra vote.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have your money matter? If I want to pay, why can’t I buy a guaranteed good seat at an Arashi concert? Shouldn’t I be allowed in the audience for Music Station watching Ayumi perform if I actually bought multiple copies of her single? In opinion polls, shouldn’t I have more say if I’ve bought and watched the actual series the idol acted in, rather than someone who just casually caught a few episodes on tv? Idols are a business, and maybe making it a more clearcut, money-based business isn’t a bad idea.

Of course, first post back is lyrics to one of the A-sides on Perfume’s new single “Fushizen na Girl.” (What, you think first priority is actual writing? Think again.) I really like this song – it has quirky but relatable lyrics.

I know the English community has embraced the translation “Artificial Girl” for the single – but for the sake of the translation, I went with “unnatural”, because I think it more correctly represents the meaning.

Japanese, romaji, and English translations under cut. As always, let me know if you see a mistake!

Japanese

Can’t stop feeling　不自然なガール
これ以上惑わさないでね
Stop a moment　I can’t stop loving you
もうもう遅いのかな

(Can’t stop feeling　Loving you　Lalala)

こんな雨の日にきっと　歩くキミを見つけて
急に傘をしまえば　気付いてくれるのかな
相談があるからって　キミにメールを打つの
本当の質問は　まだまだ聞けないけど

※
Can’t stop feeling　不自然なガール
これ以上苦しめないでね
Stop a moment　I can’t stop loving you
ほどほどにしたいでしょう
Can’t stop feeling　不自然なガール
これ以上惑わさないでね
Stop a moment　I can’t stop loving you
もうもう遅いのかな

こんな雨の日はただ　窓の外は暗くて
気分はでも意外と　そんなに悪くないし
とりあえずメイクして　キミのメールを待つの
きっとこのまま待って　ただ期待だけをして

※

相談があるからって　キミにメールを打つの
本当の質問は　まだまだ聞けないけど

※

(Can’t stop feeling　Loving you　Lalala)

不自然なガール

Romaji

Can’t stop feeling fushizen na girl
Kore ijou mado wasanai de ne
Stop a moment I can’t stop loving you
Mou mou osoi no kana

(Can’t stop feeling　Loving you　Lalala)

Konna ame no hi ni kitto Aruku kimi wo mitsukete
Kyuu ni kasa wo shimaeba Kitsuite kureru no kana
Soudan ga aru karatte Kimi meeru wo utsu no
Hontou no shitsumon wa Mada mada kikenai kedo

※
Can’t stop feeling fushizen na girl
Kore ijou kurushimenai de ne
Stop a moment I can’t stop loving you
Hodo hodo ni shitai deshou
Can’t stop feeling fushizen na girl
Kore ijou madowasanai de ne
Stop a moment I can’t stop loving you
Mou mou osoi no kana

Konna ame no hi wa tada Mado no soto wa kurakute
Kibun wa demo igai to Sonna ni warakunai shi
Toriaezu meiku shite Kimi no meeru wo matsu no
Kitto kono mama matte Tada kitai dake wo shite

※

Soudan ga aru karatte Kimi ni meeru wo utsu no
Hontou no shitsumon wa Mada mada kikenai kedo

※

(Can’t stop feeling　Loving you　Lalala)

Fushizen na girl

English

A girl who can’t stop feeling unnatural
Stop confusing me like this
Stop a moment, I can’t stop loving you
It’s already too late, isn’t it

On this rainy day I see you walking over
Will you notice me if I quickly shut my umbrella?
“I have something to discuss” is what I type in the text message
But my true question is one that I can’t ask yet

※
A girl who can’t stop feeling unnatural
Stop this pain I’m feeling
Stop a moment I can’t stop loving you
It’s better to take it step by step, right?
A girl who can’t stop feeling unnatural
Stop confusing me like this
Stop a moment, I can’t stop loving you
It’s already too late, isn’t it

On this rainy day it’s gloomy outside my window
But my mood is surprisingly not bad
I’ll put on my make-up while waiting for your text message
I’m here waiting, full of expectation

※

“I have something to discuss” is what I type in the text message
But my true question is one that I can’t ask yet

※

Unnatural girl

I logged on recently again and was pleasantly surprised that somehow, I’m still getting occasional hits – so to those people who continue linking to me (mostly for those naked Yamapi pictures, but oh well) thanks.

This is a temporary post to announce some revamping around here and I’ll be writing again soon – no more extensive drama overviews or individual musings on singles, but some thoughts here and there. Thanks for bearing with me!

I had just planned to do up to this – you know, “favorites from the album” and all – but apparently my favorite new songs are pretty much every new song on the album that’s not in complete English. So I might do Zero Gravity for fun too.

Like always, alert me to any mistakes you might see! Japanese, romaji, and English lyrics under the cut.

Japanese

言葉じゃうまく言えないの
ぬくもりだって足りないの
視線の行く先はどこ？
キミに全てあげるわ

心がうまく冷えないの
ぬくもりだっていらないの
期待の向く先はどこ？
キミに全てあげるわ

You are my heart, my life, and my soul.
I love you more than words can say. Ah
You are my heart, my life, and my soul.
The best thing that I can do is to show you now.×2

Romaji

Kotoba jya umaku ie nai no
Nukumori datte tarinai no
Shisen no yukusaki wa doko?
Kimi ni subete ageru wa

Kokoro ga umaku hienai no
Nukumori datte iranai no
Kitai no muku saki wa doko?
Kimi ni subete ageru wa

You are my heart, my life, and my soul.
I love you more than words can say. Ah
You are my heart, my life and my soul.
The best thing that i can do is to show you now. x2

English

Can’t say it well in words
Not feeling enough warmth
Where are your eyes looking?
I’ll give you all of me.

My heart doesn’t get cold
Don’t need any warmth
What are you anticipating?
I’ll give you all of me.

You are my heart, my life, and my soul.
I love you more than words can say. Ah
You are my heart, my life and my soul.
The best thing that i can do is to show you now.　x2

Next on my list of favorites from Perfume on ⊿ is this one. I think this song (and the accompanying PV and performance) is superb – the voices are full of longing while the music is fun and retro-sounding. A retro midtempo techno ballad? Yes please!

As always, I am simply someone trying to learn Japanese by translating and is by no means an expert, so if you see any mistakes anywhere let me know! Japanese, romaji, and English lyrics under the cut.

Japanese

キミをどんなに想い続けても
あたしにできることなんかなくて
夕焼けみたいに沈む気持ちを
胸にしまいこむ

それがどんなに意味のないことで
一つも変わることがなくても
一緒に笑い合える関係
それを守りたい

願うなら　さよなら　と　笑えるより
寂しいねって　いってくれるよな　そんなふたりがいい

※I still love U 抜け出せない　迷路のよう　見えないドア
I can smile 隠してるの　この気持ち　涙に変えて
You and me どうしようもない　それはきっと　あたし自身
rescue me なんていえない　目を閉じて　眠りにつく

あまり連絡がこないときでも
あたしにできることなんかなくて
曇り空みたいなこの気持ちを
胸にしまいこむ

震えた気がして電話を見て
気のせいだとがっかりしたりもして
次はいつになるとあえるかな
思い続ける

願うなら　じゃあまたね　って手を振るより
寂しいねって　いってくれるよな　そんなふたりがいい

※

Romaji

Kimi wo donna ni omoi tsuzuketemo
Atashi ni dekiru koto nanka nakute
Yuuyake midai ni shizumu kimochi wo
Mune ni shimai komu

Sore ga donna ni imi no nai koto de
Hitotsu mo kawaru koto ga nakute mo
Isshouni warai aeru kankei
Sore wo mamori tai

Negau nara sayonara to waraeru yori
Sabishii nete ittekureru yona sonna futari ga ii

※ I still love U muke nasenai meiro no you mienai DOA
I can smile kakushi teru no kono kimochi namida ni kaete
You and me doushiyou mo nai sore wa kitto atashi jishin
Rescue me nante ienai me wo toji de nemuri ni tsuku

Amari renraku ga konai to kidemo
Atashi ni dekiru koto nanka nakute
Kumori sora itai na kono kimochi wo
Mune ni shimai komu

Furueta ki ga shite denwa wo mitte
Ki no sei dato gakkari shitairi moshite
Tsugu wa itsuni naru to aerukana
Omoi tsuzukeru

Negau nara jyaa mata ne ne te wo furu yori
Sabishii nette ittekureru yo na sonna futari ga ii

※

English

What kind of thoughts did you have
I can do without thinking about it
I just want to sink into the sunset
Store these thoughts inside my chest

It doesn’t have any meaning but
Still nothing has to change
Always smiling together as one
I want to protect that

As for my wish, smiling is better than goodbyes
I’m lonely when you leave, it’s better when it’s the two of us

※I still love U   Don’t slip away　A maze with invisible doors
I can smile   Holding back changes these feelings into tears
You and me   Can’t be helped, I’m always by myself
rescue me  I can’t just shut my eyes and fall asleep

There’s not much contact between us
I can do without thinking about it
It feels like there’s a cloudy sky
Store these thoughts inside my chest

My heart trembles when I look at the phone
It’s just my imagination and I feel disappointed
Next time I’m strange it’ll be because
My feelings will continue

As for my wish, well see you later and wave goodbye
I’m lonely when you leave, it’s better when it’s the two of us

※

As always, I am no expert by any means and translate for the learning, so if you see any mistakes, alert me! Original Japanese, romaji, and my attempt of the English translation under the cut.

Japanese

夜の隙間が　鋭角になる
わからないのね　刺激じゃないわ

コインを投げて　運で決めるの？
勇気ないのね　踏み出せないの？　ねえ

※
DANCE. The kiss and music
潜る音 basement
DANCE. キミのABC　伝わるのよfeel
your eyes, your hands, your lips,
love me, see me, catch me, touch me,
Kiss and Music

あなたの隙は　わかりやすいけど
わからないのは　あの日のことね

コルクを開けて酔いに揺られて
勇気ないのね　踏み出せないの？　ねえ

※

Romaji

Yoru no sukima ga eikaku ni naru
Wakaranai no ne shigeki janai wa

KOIN wo nagete un de kimeru no?
Yuuki nai no ne fumi dasenai no? nee

※
DANCE. The kiss and music
Moguru oto basement
DANCE. Kimi no ABC tsutawaru no yo feel
your eyes, your hands, your lips,
love me, see me, catch me, touch me,
Kiss and Music

Anata no suki wa wakari yasui kedo
Wakaranai no wa ano nichi no koto ne

KORUKU wo agete yoi ni yurarete
Yuuki nai no ne fumi dasenai no? nee

REPEAT ※

English

The gap between us gets acute at night
I don’t understand why you’re not excited

Flip a coin and let luck decide?
Don’t have the courage to step forward? Hey

※
DANCE. The kiss and music
Dive into the sounds of the basement
DANCE. Your ABC. The feel of the flow
your eyes, your hands, your lips,
love me, see me, catch me, touch me,
Kiss and Music

Your space is easy to understand but
I don’t understand what happened that day.

Pop open the cork and get intoxicated on your movement
Don’t have the courage to step forward? Hey

REPEAT ※

Can it still be called a preview if some of the series kind of already started? :\ Ah, well, either way, here’s my preview of this season’s upcoming dramas. My top three this season are three definitely pretty boy dramas: Buzzer Beat, Orthros no Inu, and Otomen. (Although I probably will check out many more too, since there’s a lot of promise this season!)

Also is it just me or are there many more Johnny’s this season? 7 in lead or co-leading roles this season? Has that happened before?

Buzzer Beat

Meaning: Yamapi has a girlfriend, falls in love with another girl, plays basketball, and should demonstrate a certain level of sucking in all of the above. Sweetly, though.
Verdict: Yamapi, Kitagawa Keiko, Aibu Saki in one drama? Can this really be bad? DEFINITELY WATCHING!

Koishite Akuma

Meaning: Vampire boy unwittingly falls in love with human teacher – aka Twilight, Japan style.
Verdict: Oh gorgeous and talented Kato Rosa, why does your romance costar have to be a kid. This is also starring that Yuma from the spankin’ new pimped out but full of strange and unknown little boys Johnny’s group, so maybe it’s trying to suck in the kiddies of Japan like Twilight did to the poor preteens of the US.

Akahana no Sensei

Meaning: A hospital middle school teacher tries to make sick kids happy but fails.
Verdict: … and then he will succeed to get to the children, heartwarmingly. Sounds kind of predictable and boring. Kashii Yu stars though, so that might be the one bright point.

Dandy Daddy?

Meaning: Daddy writes romance novels but tries to forbid his daughter from dating.
Verdict: What can I say, just the gaudiness of the CM makes this seem like it’ll be hilarious.

Ninkyo Helper

Meaning: Kusanagi puts on his clothes (sorry, can’t help it) and plays a mob boss who has to help at a nursing home.
Verdict: And Kuroki Meisa plays the sexy and feisty rival female mob boss. She will be wearing black yakuza befitting yet sexy suits. Ahem. That alone would probably make this worth it.

Saru Lock

Meaning: A loser idol-wotaku uses lock picking to solve cases with presumably equally loser-looking friends.
Verdict: Interesting premise, but how badass can lock picking possibly be? Guess it’s late night for a reason…

Call Center no Koibito

Meaning: Big shot employee gets demoted to a call center but finds ~love~.
Verdict: Yawn. Too bad they didn’t make it like an online dating call center or something, then that might be more interesting. But at least it does star ex-prime minister Koizumi’s hot son.

Haken no Oscar

Meaning: Shoujo manga otaku semi-hallucinates and decides to kick ass, Rose of Versailles style.
Verdict: ……fine NHK, you win this time. If it’s subbed I’ll give this a try.

Orthros no Inu

Meaning: A evil dude heals people he touches, a nice dude kills people he touches, what will happen when they meet?!
Verdict: Lolol it’ll be nice to see both Tackey and Nishikido Ryo go around an entire drama not touching any people. Love it. Also Mizukawa Asami will be in this too, and she is awesome.

Kochikame

Meaning: Katori Shingo plays a presumably hilarious policeman who mugs around the neighborhood.
Verdict: Good if the presumably hilarious part plays out in ways more than just weird faces.

Karei Naru Spy

Meaning: Nagase Tomoya and Fukuda Kyoko are badass spies.
Verdict: It sounds like a very standard spy drama but, really, you can’t go wrong with spies!

Otomen

Meaning: The strong and manly Asuka is actually has super girly tastes! Mayhem ensues when he falls in love with a tomboy.
Verdict: YES. If they can do the adorable manga even 75% justice, this will be terrific to watch.

Kanryotachi no Natsu

Meaning: The economy sucks now, so let’s make a movie about when the economy was good to help make it better again!
Verdict: The title means “The Summer of the Bureaucrats.” Because what screams summer like sun, surf, and bureaucrats, right?

I usually don’t do song by song review types or anything like that on this blog, but after the leaks (cough from the normal sources), I’m certain ⊿ (Triangle) deserves attention and praise for what its achieved – both for Nakata and for Perfume.

Starting with the songs themselves: Take off is a futuristic opener with a simple concept: a countdown from ten to one until the start of the actual songs. What it does differently is that each number is repeated three time – presumably once representing for each girl, and going off the triad concept of the album. The synth is gorgeous and the vocalizations add to the mystery of the short track. I do believe the transition into love the world could be slightly better handled, but the pairing is marvelous: similar synth sounds, but one mysterious and dark leading into one cheerful and poppy.

love the world is followed by Dream Fighter, and sounds like a fairly natural progression given that the two singles seemed to pair along from the very beginning. It then leads into edge(⊿-mix) – a more aggressive version on what is already an (shall I say it?) edgy song. Most of it sounds very similar to the original and extended versions of the track, but the additional synth created melodies inserted in between the vocals, along with the addition of distorted noise and pure instrumental portions, give the track even more of a gritty club feel than the original.

edge leads into NIGHT FLIGHT, this year’s PINO CM song. The song has a throwback feel with 80′s style synth instrumentals, but don’t pin it as retro: Perfume’s echoed vocals and a strong synth bass line give this track a modern twist. The song is sophisticated and is at the same time catchy.

Kiss and Music is next, a funky and sometimes dissonant slow track. Unlike most of Perfume’s music, Kiss and Music lacks a distinct pop melody and track – instead, it offers a fairly simple minor track paired with sensual, almost spoken lyrics.

It’s then a smooth transition into Zero Gravity that’s a fun midtempo version of 90′s shibuya-kei. It has a clear piano backing track to match soft and sweet vocals. The song is – for the lack of a better description – adorable, and is a nice change of style for the girls.

I still love U follows to give us a retro styled track paired with a unforgetably catchy melody. The instrumental itself sounds like 80s and 90s synth pop. The vocals switch between vocoded to be muffled and more distorted and to be  fairly clear. The chorus is sweet and longing and wonderfully paired with strains of violin.  The only fault of the song is breakdown before the last chorus: it adds a nice emphasis on the last part but should ideally be only half or less of its current length.

The best thing follows with fun twinkly synth sounds paired with a fun melody. The chorus is catchy and fun to sing along to. It doesn’t achieve anything new but does give a great song. It leads into Speed of Sound – which is less of a Perfume track than something like an interlude. There’s no distinct melody and Perfume only contributes spoken words into a colorfully varying song. The lack of melody makes the song more of a club than a pop song, but the song does provide a cute atmosphere.

The ending of the Speed of Sound leads nicely into the grating synth beginning to One Room Disco. Finally, the album ends with Negai (album mix). The difference would be the addition of acoustic piano and strings to the beginning, as well as along with additional acoustic effects throughout the song’s arrangement. The additional instruments sound a little messy paired with the heavy percussion during the bridge and refrains, but the addition of strings and timpani is a perfect addition during the choruses. There’s also a pleasant new acoustic ending to the song. I loved the original Negai, but I think the album mix offers a more personal, humanized version of the song – a fitting ending to an album that was strictly electronic.

Overall, I think ⊿ is an amazing album musically and Nakata has done a great job once again – there are definitely going to be new Perfume favorites coming out of this.

And to address the increasingly common viewpoint that Perfume is becoming capsule part two, I think ⊿ can confidently disprove that claim. It’s true that some of the songs wouldn’t look out of place in a current capsule album – like Take Off, Kiss and Music, or Speed of Sound – but the other tracks are all still the pop-based technopop Perfume fans know and love. Do you thinks  Yes, the songs do feature significantly stronger club-based influences, but does anyone want Perfume’s music to have stalled permanently at the offerings in GAME? Yes, Perfume sounds differently in ⊿ – but they sounded differently in GAME from Complete Best too. It’s natural for an artist to evolve, even if the evolution is strongly based on the producer. I think its brave for Nakata and Perfume to try some drastically new styles in the album songs when they could have just have released a rehash of songs that sound right in place in GAME in order to continue off the sophomore album’s success.

Most importantly, ⊿ makes me realize how big an influence Perfume is in the music. No, I do not believe Nakata would be able to make I still love U as charming as he did if he had used Toshiko’s vocals instead of mixing Perfume’s three lines together. The vocoding has changed and it’s harder to differentiate the three voices – but you can still differentiate three different voices during the solos for most of the songs. Perfume still adds their personal charm to their songs and are still present.

If you’re feeling disappointed that Perfume in ⊿ no longer sounds like the Polyrhythm or Chocolate Disco Perfume you fell in love with, throw away your bias and just listen to the music for a moment, and tell me if you enjoy it. And if not, that’s fine, it’s just not your style: personally, my GAME loving heart still thinks GAME is one of the best albums of all time. But lets put Perfume’s history aside for a moment.

Hmm. That’s been a rambling. I guess in conclusion what I’m saying is just that ⊿ is an AMAZING album, and I’m loving several of the new album tracks with just a few listens. Go on and give them a try – whether you’re a big fan of Perfume’s sound in GAME or not, you might be pleasantly surprised!