Perfume – JPN (a J!-ENT World Groove Album Review)

1. The Opening
2. レーザービーム (Album-mix)
3. GLITTER (Album-mix)
4. ナチュラルに恋して
5. MY COLOR
6. 時の針
7. ねぇ
8. 微かなカオリ
9. 575
10. VOICE
11. 心のスポーツ
12. Have a stroll
13. 不自然なガール
14. スパイス

The Japanese pop girl group Perfume has accomplished a lot since being signed to a major label in 2005.

The trio which consists of Ayaka “A-Chan” Nishiwaki, Yuka “Kashiyuka” Kashino and Ayano “Nocchi” Omoto made their debut as Perfume back in 2001.

Produced by Yasutaka Nakata (known for his work with Capsule and Ami Suzuki), the group was originally known for the Shibuya-kei style sound until transitioning to a more synth-pop group in 2003 and becoming a popular idol trio in the Akihabara area.

But when the group made their official debut in 2005 for the label Tokuma Japan Communications, the group would have songs that made the top 100 but it wasn’t until 2007 when their single “Fan Service: Sweet” which featured the song “Chocolate Disco” was released.  And thanks to J-pop star Kaela Kimura, who played the song on her radio show, it led to a commercial director Akira Tomotsugi to use Perfume in their upcoming TV commercial for NHK.  And the song used was “Polyrhythm” and from that moment, the luck for Perfume would lead to their live shows being sold out and also giving their 10th CD single their first crack into the Oricon Charts top 10 with “Polyrhythm” which debuted at #4.

And by 2008, the first album from “Perfume” titled “Game” would sell over 450,000 copies and Perfume would become so popular, selling out all their tickets for their tour and would also perform at Nippon Budokan for a 2-day show.

And with two albums released and 14 major label CD singles released, both albums have debuted at #1 and their singles since 2008 have debuted at #1 or #2 on the Oricon Charts.

And here we are with their third album titled “JPN” to end 2011.  The album like the previous two, debuted at #1 and became the second female group to have three consecutive #1 albums on the music chart since the idol pop group, SPEED.

The album would feature the group’s tenth (15th single overall) major label CD single “Fushizen na Girl/Natural ni Koishite”, their 11th major label single (16th single overall) “Voice”, their 12th (17th overall) major label single “Nee”, their 13th (18th overall) major label single “Laser Beam/Kasuka na Kaori” and their 14th CD (19th overall) major label single “Spice”.

There are two versions of “JPN” available.  One with a DVD and the other regular edition without one.  The version I will be reviewing is the regular edition of “JPN”.

The CD insert features pictures of each member near the letters JPN, while lyrics and production credits are featured in the 20-page booklet.

The album kicks off with a short synth/piano instrumental titled “The Opening” and leads to the group’s 13th single “Laser Beam (Album-Mix)”.  The album mix differs from the single version by featuring experimentation after each verse, musically.  A song with with cool synth and beats, catchy with that digital style, “Laser beam” is a song about a person who is excited of seeing a person you like gaze at you.  The gaze is like a “laser beam” that pierces through the person’s heart and it’s a love beam that is the color of a rainbow.

The third track is the album-mix of “GLITTER”, a catchy song that starts of at mid-tempo until it reaches the chorus.  Am upbeat dance track that may seem happy, but the lyrics are somewhat sad as the song is about how a person has a sparkling dream, both people made a promise.  But until that day comes, she won’t cry at all and will pray for the person and laugh with them.  But instead of waiting, she feels she may need to take the chance and just do it or things won’t change, but she needs “Glitter”.  It’s a bit hard to explain the lyrics but it is a song about hope and just taking the initiative.  The main difference is the intro to the song from the version featured on the “Spice” CD single.

The fourth track is their 10th major CD single track “Natural ni Koishite” (which translates to “Fall in Love Naturally”).  A cool, sweet synth track with deep synth grooves and is about the person singing about how she wants to be kissed and loved naturally and how she wants to hold the hand with the person she likes.   But the person she is dating is quite popular and is always busy, and she gets upset by it.  But she just wants to be loved naturally.

The fifth track is “My Color” and another track with a permeating synth groove and a track about a person who has been waiting for a mail from the person she likes.  She wants to see the person badly and hopes that her color, which is the color of excitement, reaches the person that she likes.

The sixth track is titled “Toki no Hari” (which translates to “Needle of Time”) and is a slow-paced song and is not dance-driven but has a cute, idol feel to it, due to the music arrangement.  The song is about how two people made a promise to each other, that they will protect each other.  And like a flower, the person will bloom but also wither away and die but to sprout again due to the rays of the sun.

The twelfth major label single”Nee” (which translates to “Hey!”) is the seventh track and an upbeat, dance track and is a song about a person asking “Where are we going today?  Hey, where are we going tomorrow”.  Wherever the destination, that person will be by that person’s side.

The eighth track is titled Kasuka na Kaori” (which translates to “Gentle Fragrance”) and is the other double-single track that came with “Laser Beam”.  The mid-tempo track has a cool synth arrangement and for this song, it’s not too upbeat but slightly gentle.  The song is about a person who wonders if the person she likes knows that she has a crush on the person and that crush is like a gentle fragrance.  But she doesn’t have the guts to come out and say that she wants to be with that person.  And she wants to know the how the guy truly feels about her.

The ninth track “575” was the c/w song for the single “Voice” and a song used for the cell phone commercial for KDDI iida.  The track is a ballad with cool beats and synth bass line that transitions to an upbeat hip hop segment.  A pretty cool track!  The song is about a troubled relationship and she lines up words like 5-7-5 and wonders how the relationship will be.  She talks about how the person she is with is moody, selfish and their is conflict in their relationship and she can’t sleep and wonders what the person is up to now because she does love him.

The tenth track is titled “Voice” and was one of the more familiar Perfume songs in 2010 as it was used on a Nissan commercial. The song is an upbeat track and a track with cool beats and catch arrangement.  The track is about the single moment’s love is caught in her chest, in her voice.  And how she and the guy she likes are alike, they are fake and now she wants to see the true self of that person.

The eleventh track is “Kokoro no Sports” (which translates to “The Sport of the Heart”) and is an upbeat track about how a person loves a another so much.  She kisses the person on the cheek out of love and the person feels that love is the heart of sport.  Because she wants to do all she can to steal his heart.

The twelfth track is “Have a Stroll”, an upbeat track about a person going on a walk on a Sunday afternoon, hoping to give a present to the person she likes.  And the tension of being with that person on that Sunday afternoon, but the weather isn’t great and because the skies are not clear, she is a bit bummed.  But while walking with that person, she decides to grab his hand and together, they will go wherever.

The thirteenth track is the single “Fushizen na Girl” (which translates to “Artificial Girl”) and is their tenth major label single (15th overall).  An upbeat pop track about how a person can’t help stop feeling that she is an artificial girl.  She can’t stop loving a person, but she doesn’t want to be hurt anymore.  So, she wants to take things smoothly with the person she cares about.

And the 14th and final track is Perfume’s latest single “Spice”which  features a catchy, upbeat single that continues to feature the synth pop arrangements that Yasutaka Nakata is known for.  The single is about being excited about something unexpected and that the spice of curiosity that is within you.  The song is about being in the same room with a person you like but the excitement makes the person tremble.

Overall, I felt that Perfume has improved a lot with their music in the past six years.  Their upbeat, catchy tracks are the ones that have I enjoy the most but all tracks on “JPN” are enjoyable, catchy and incorporates the Yasutaka Nakata staple of synth pop, deep beats and some with synth groove.  While I enjoyed the album, part of me wishes I had the CD+DVD version, because it would have been cool to watch the music videos for the songs featured on this album.  But for the most part, you get a good number of tracks (nine which came from their last five CD singles) and five new tracks for “JPN”.

A cool album overall, if you enjoy Perfume’s music, you’ll definitely enjoy “JPN”!

 

BUY THIS CD SINGLE from cdjapan.com: