Does Perfume Still Smell Nice?
Long gone are the days of fierce techno that was “edge” and the ever popular “Polyrhythm”. Perfume has seemed to jump into this cycle of repetitive music around the same time that they became relevant in J-Pop. I still enjoy their new music, but not near as much as songs from the “GAME” era.
Perfume has always been a very polished group; they have splendid and creative PV’s along with (usually)gorgeous cover art. Not to mention the girls themselves who always look like if they were from some time period in the future. However my theory is that Perfume(their management agency or w/e) is now more concentrated on how they appeal to the public and how the girls are presented to the public. They have turned from an electro-pop group to three beautiful models who can dance and have the personality of only the best idols(Junjun~).
Perfume’s music has fallen under routine. Ever since “love the world”, Perfume’s singles have all been quite single. I admit that even some of their latest hits can be quite catchy, but all of it lacks the certain flare that older Perfume songs had. And with “flare” I mean that sound of music that was really given it’s best effort into making and was sung by three girls who were trying to succeed in the market.
It’s not like Perfume has stopped caring for their music, but instead their producer Yasutaka Nakata(Suzuki Ami, capsule, the PON PON WEI WEI WEI song), who I’m not quite sure if he is in charge of PV’s and cover art(someone clarify me on that, I think he does handle that), is releasing music for Perfume that appeals to the public and won’t ruin their image. Don’t expect Perfume to release another song like “edge” again since it is something only true music lovers will appreciate.
There’s nothing wrong with maintaining a successful group by releasing music that sells, even if it isn’t as good as it used to be, but I would enjoy a random b-side once in a while à la “23:30″(a song that only I can appreciate).
Oh and don’t even get me started on “Kasuka na Kaori”.
What do you think about Perfume’s music now? Like it or no? Does it still have the same charm from their older material or is it a bit too fabricated?
Their new music sucks, though they could still have something edge-ish as an album track or a future b-side with no tie-in. It’s only because their recent a-sides were all made to match certain commercials that they’ve sounded so… Stale. And that won’t change, but unlicensed b-sides are still a sign of hope.
I liked Laser Beam for around two weeks when it first came out, and then it just really died on me. I miss the stronger stuff from the GAME era, there isn’t enough of 575-esque music and if they get any poppier and cuter and mainstream idol-like, I will get even more so disgruntled.
Right now, the only thing worth looking forward to might be an album, when Nakata may or may not get a brainwave or some inspiration to create something good. And really, only you liked 23:30? You lie. I love that song too.
I really loved their older music, but now their newer songs all sound the same. You don’t really see articles about their actual songs anymore. Rather, you just see posts like “Perfume goes to the preview showing of Cars 2″ or “Perfume is in this commercial”.
Yeah, their older stuff is better than music today with the exception of a few B-sides like 575.
Yeah, they are much more commercial now, but what can you expect – They’re one of the biggest groups in Japan and the most popular artist on their label, they’re doing the right thing for their success. But I do hate that the music is so far from what it used to be. They’re dumbing down the music to appeal to a larger scale of people. Bubblegum Pop has a much larger audience than edgy techno… However, I’ll always support them, and I will never say that this is a bad era for them. Natural ni Koi Shite was brilliant, and all of the B-sides have been top notch. And I’ll even say that I love their last single. Yeah, I do. /perfume stan
I can see what you mean.
My favourite song from them is Polyrhythm. What I noticed is that when it got to One Room Disco, it became more commercial. But I do really like the songs Natural ni Koishite, 575, Nee and Laser Beam but I see that most of the songs don’t even seem like unique techno pop songs, they are repetitive. But you know what? I still like it. I didn’t like their style for years until 2009.
Yea, their music isn’t bad at all, just that it’s no longer like the best techno music out there anymore. :/
Here for the 23:30 reference! It’s definitely one of my favorite Perfume songs <3
At this rate though, I really with they stopped doing single songs based on CMs and instead of that just based the CMs on their songs, like most artists do :s
i think their style has changed. but i really do love “Nee” soooo much, i think it’s about as good as their older stuff, partially cuz the music video was amazing to me and they all looked so adorable~