Perfume - Cosmic Explorer Album Review

Perfume has been around for years, and has a devoted and loving fanbase. As a result, one of the most hyped albums of the year has been "Cosmic Explorer". After months of waiting, it's finally here! Perfume's 5th album comes at a time when BABYMETAL is at the forefront of J-pop and Utada Hikaru is on the verge of a return; can this pop group from 16 years ago still get fans exited the way they could before? I think they can.

If you've been following our J-pop reviews this year, you know a lot of artists are opening their albums with instrumental intro tracks. "Navigate" is that. It has a nice vibe to it, very spacey (cosmic, even?). It's fine. The title track is what I'm here for. "Cosmic Explorer" is an incredible song! I adore the whisper-thin vocals Perfume has become known for, and mixed with the amazing space pop background... Perfect. This song is so powerful.

"Miracle Worker" steps away from the massive sound of the ttle track to get a bit cuter, and a bit softer. The chorus synths are super bouncy and danceable as well. The album hangs out in this mindset for a while. The fifth track, "STORY", actually makes me a little bit... upset? It's mostly instrumental, with occasional soft vocals barely peeking through. I actually like the vocal sections. The instrumental though? It's like the most watered-down dubstep/techno you can imagine. It's so repetetive! There are sections I like, but most of it is just filler. For an album that already has 14 tracks on it, I really can't imagine why this song even had to be included.

Luckily "STORY" is followed up by "FLASH", the album's most recent single. I love this one. It's a great single and fits in well on the album too. The lead single "Sweet Refrain" is next. It's nice, but not much of a single. It wasn't recieved very well when it WAS released as a single, in fact. It's just solidly okay. There are actually a lot of singles on here. In addition to the previous ones, there's also "TOKIMEKI LIGHTS", "STAR TRAIN", and "Cling Cling". The latter song is EXTREMELY Kyary, like so Kyary it hurts. This makes perfect sense, as the song was actually produced by KPP's producer Yasutaka Nakata.

Honestly, this album is a pretty straightforward Perfume album. It's cute and soft, sweet enough to be poppy but melancholy enough to have its own place in the world of pop music. If you're already a Perfume fan, this album will probably be pretty welcome. If you're NOT a Perfume fan, I can't think of anything here that might change your mind. I AM a fan, and I like this album well enough. "Cosmic Explorer" is an AMAZING song, the rest of them are nice but a little predictable and conventional. This is a comfortable album where Perfume just hone the sound they've been working on for years. It's worth a listen if you're into the group at all.

-Justin

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Perfume is:

Yuka "Kashiyuka" Kashino
Ayaka "A~chan" Nishiwaki
Ayano "Nocchi" Omoto

Cosmic Explorer

1. Navigate
   
2. Cosmic Explorer
   
3. Miracle Worker
   
4. Next Stage With YOU
   
5. STORY
   
6. FLASH
   
7. Sweet Refrain
   
8. Baby Face
   
9. TOKIMEKI LIGHTS
   
10. STAR TRAIN
    
11. Relax in the City
    
12. Pick Me Up
    
13. Cling Cling
    
14. Hold Your Hand
    

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