J-Pop Trio Perfume Make Music for the Future

J-Pop Trio Perfume Make Music for the Future. Renowned for their music just as much as their sharply-defined performance, the trio have reigned as Japan’s biggest girlband for some 15 years.

After releasing six studio albums – one being certified double platinum, three being certified platinum, and the most recent two being certified gold – Japan’s beloved musical act Perfume is looking to expand their fanbase to wider, international horizons. Straying away from the “kawaii culture” that many outsiders often ignorantly associate with almost anything Japanese, Perfume is not your stereotypical girl group.

After forming in the early 2000s, Perfume has underwent multiple explorations and transitions through subgenres of electronic music. Adopting a sound influenced by synthpop and bubblegum pop, the group’s musical style and structure has commonly been described as “technopop”. There’s a handful of popular electronic Japanese music, but Perfume has executed their work differently, not just through having their own particular sound but also by the way they execute their interesting performances, known for their originally unprecedented choreography. They’ve even incorporated tech and fashion into their shows, manipulating light and color, allowing for a mesmerizing hearing as well as viewing experience. It’s their way of leaving their mark, making a statement. In a world full of trends and conformity, it’s an exciting and fresh sight to see musicians embrace individuality. It’s how they want you to remember them as; Perfume, the Japanese girl group who knows, accepts, and rocks uniqueness.

The group released their latest record Future Pop last August, the name reflecting a genre that’s supposedly unheard of in mainstream Japanese acts. But it’s this very name, however, that seemingly embodies the spirit of Perfume quite perfectly; a musical group looking to break boundaries with their music and live presence, constantly moving into the future, creating new creative things and making it theirs – but at the same time helping to pave the way for other J-Pop artists to make it nationwide and hopefully worldwide, too.

Recently, the band’s newest album reached #1 on the iTunes Electronic Albums Chart in dozens of countries just two days after being launched. To add to their long career record, Perfume will also be debuting as the first all-female Japanese group to perform at Coachella on April 14th and 21st. With their music and pristinely out-of-the-box creativity, many can anticipate more from the riveting pop trio. Whether the world is ready or not, Perfume is bringing the future. (Text Jordinna Joaquin)