Perfume
Voice

Having reached their third album and seventeenth single, the electropop trio Perfume has achieved absolute perfection in crafting the perfect entertainment song: "VOICE" is probably the most bubbly, catchy, and sticky track (and excuse the foreign terminology, but there are no equally pop counterparts in Italian) of the past several years and the best release from the group since love the world.

The difference between any idol in Japan and the entire world and Perfume lies in the fact that Nocchi, Kashiyuka, and A~chan work with their producer Yasutaka Nakata with the explicit aim to consistently create, single after single and album after album, tracks of absolute formal perfection in music, lyrics, choreography, image, costumes, mood, the singers' lives, and everything revolving around the Perfume brand so that the very concept of error does not exist. It's not a matter of Photoshop and Autotune; it's a matter of long study and work to build each time not just a song, but an entire world of reference where everything aligns. Thus, with each track, it's not just the melody you remember, but an entire atmosphere: you think of Polyrhythm and not only does the hypnotic chorus come to mind, but also the recycling commercial, the plastic and paper costumes, the bush-men, and a thousand other things; you think of the nursery rhyme wonder2 and a tear falls because it's always the last song at their concerts; you think of that techno gem Natural ni koishite and you immediately imagine them hopping around shops; you think of Computer City and you can't help but remember the gesture of the three fingers touching each other and their white and blue outfits on a black background... and with VOICE the same thing will happen: the limited edition cover with the legs and the video with silhouettes & the treasure hunt Art Attack style are already imprinted in fans' minds. We are at a level of iconicity comparable to that of Madonna, who since the '80s has changed everything with each new song (fans say "she reinvents herself"), a technique that works because even the most critical detractor hasn't forgotten her dressed as Marilyn in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, or with the Boy Toy belt or red hair in a pink bodysuit; with Perfume, we're on the same conceptual level but limited to the Japanese market from which they haven't (yet) emerged.

Like all other Perfume songs, "VOICE" is nothing but a delightful vocal amusement, absolutely catchy, particularly well-executed, brought to the highest levels of charm and immediately etched in memory. The track works, and the tandem with the down-tempo/oriental-tinged/rapping ballad 575 further amplifies the feeling of pleasure and freshness. Everything is perfect, even plasticky if you will, but also fun and enjoyable and, above all, there's not the slightest trace of vulgarity. Nakata spares no occasion to flaunt his usual nerd connaisseur arrangements, and the three girls work hard to enchant the listener with their voices passed through Subsonica's Samuel's microphone.

Another hit, keep it up.