1) Navigate; 2) Cosmic Explorer; 3) Miracle Worker; 4) Next Stage with You; 5) Story; 6) Flash (Album Mix); 7) Sweet Refrain (Album Mix); 8) Baby Face; 9) Tokikemi Lights (Album Mix); 10) Star Train (Album Mix); 11) Relax in the City; 12) Pick Me Up; 13) Cling Cling (Album Mix); 14) Hold Your Hand
Nakata is inspired again, the girls are more in front and center, the tunes are there... dare I say, a return to form?
Key tracks: "Cosmic Explorer", "Next Stage with You", "Pick Me Up"
⊿ was exciting enough to break out from its J-pop confinements to reach out people such as myself who aren't all too clued up on the scene, but unfortunately Perfume started to fizzle out as suddenly as they initially stole the attention with their laser-precise choreographies and futuristic sound. Follow-up JPN had its highlights but was overall a safe, predictable and generally complacent follow-up resting on its laurels at the top. By the messy Level3, high-in-demand production wiz Yasutaka Nakata's attention had split between so many projects his inspiration had started to stretch thin, with Perfume seemingly getting assigned the scraps. ⊿ was often as surprising in its arrangements as it was relentless in its danceable melodies; some years later. Perfume were just another J-pop group among many.
I don't know if it was intentional or not, but Cosmic Explorer sure sounds like a course correction - a collective realisation between Nakata and the actual Perfume trio that their collaboration needs revitalising. So, that's what they do. Cosmic Explorer is the first time in a long while where a Perfume album sounds like it has the wild ambition that initially was their signature element, and it absolutely hammers it down. There's an almost boastful boldness to it, an absolute certainty in its own hooks and the sheer productional force wielding them. There's details and songwriting quirks that reveal Nakata's operating in full steam once again, and Cosmic Explorer doesn't take long to establish its strengths. The galaxy-sized "Cosmic Explorer" is Perfume's most explosive opener to date and very much sets the tone, acting as if a proclamation of the group's intent to seize the top spot once again. "Miracle Worker" is a lush bundle of sweetness and dancefloor strength, and by the time "Next Stage With You" comes along one's sold. It takes a certain level of confidence in the strength of a chorus to lead one to a decision to simply omit the verses altogether from their way, bridging them with instrumental passages any other pop producer would call the best bridge they've written in their life; "Next Stage With You" rides it with flying colours.
Cosmic Explorer doesn't necessarily feature Nakata at his most inventive, but the songs offered flare up with the giddiness and excitement that made Perfume's brand of pop so irresistible to begin with. At its best the highlights stand proudly among Perfume's best, and the gaps in-between are completed with songs that hold up on their own and keep good company for the big star moments. Besides "Miracle Worker" and "Next Stage With You", the pop brilliance power duo of "Flash" and in particular the frantic "Pick Me Up" follow up as tactically targeted pop sniper shots full of electricity, vigour, relentless beats and killer hooks, blending Nakata's futuristic instincts with the girls' sweet delivery in the way the best Perfume moments do. They're positive attention-hogs, songs that capture attention from the first second and sound like they constantly get more excited about themselves as they go along. They don't quite do the twists and turns some of the older Perfume high caliber hits would normally do, but when straightforwardness is executed so well and with a sound that still jumps out, it's hard to not let the songs charm you.
The production overall shines once more, with even "Baby Face", the now-token cutesy track that normally gets relegated to the filler section, sounding like it has something to say musically. The sound of Cosmic Explorer may not be as forward-thinking as Triangle was, but it's a direct successor to most of its strengths and in one particular aspect it's clearly superior: the increased presence of the girls themselves. Perfume has always been known as Nakata's playground, but over time A-Chan, Kashiyuka and Nocchi have increasingly managed to let their own personalities and presence shine, and the front-and-center singing present on Cosmic Explorer is a far cry from the autotune-covered, almost instrument-like treatment of the vocals of the past. In that sense, Cosmic Explorer feels more fleshed out than the earlier material it compares to the most, and it's why even its slower moments have a little more oomph than in the past. "Star Train" is probably the best ballad Perfume have released, showing a softer side without losing any of the magic their higher-tempo numbers would have; it sounds like a highly engineered torchlight moment intended for fans to embrace in communion, and it sells the notion so well I'm happy to eat it up.
Admittedly there's consistency issues. The album could have been a tighter experience by getting rid of a couple of the less distinct songs buried around the latter half of the album, primarily "Tokimeki Lights" and "Relax in the City", and there's a few clunkers too: the dubstep-inspired "Cling Cling" felt like an unnecessary trend-hop then and already sounds uninspiringly dated, and the monotonous sort-of-instrumental "Story" is a dull production exercise that threatens to kill the initial rush of excitement immediately by having been placed so early in the tracklist. But when Cosmic Explorer gets it right, it gets it really right, and apart from "Story" the actual flow never dies down. Or, to put it in another way: some time back I made a compilation out of the select highlights of JPN and Level 3 because the idea of listening to either album in full felt so uninspiring due to their wild flicker between infrequent highs and forgettably average lows. I've not felt the need to add to this compilation with Cosmic Explorer; it's engaging enough as a whole. a gust of energy and pure pop joy that keeps the fire well lit throughout. Above all, as much as it has rejuvenated Perfume it's also rejuvenated my interest in them. It's not quite a full-on showstopper but it's almost there, and after the last two albums I wasn't sure that was going to happen again.
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