New Koutei Camera Girl Drei: “Harbor”

Idol group Koutei Camera Girl has gone through all sorts of mutations over the last couple of years, with the latest version being re-christened Koutei Camera Girl Drei. And with a new name (and different line-up) comes a new release, New Way Of Lovin.’ A lot of “new” there, but this release actually offers the strongest version of the sound this project has been exploring since its start. Whatever the moniker, Koutei Camera Girl merge various strains of dance music — New Way features a “trance version” of “Lonely Lonely Montreal” — with traditional pop-idol singing and rapping (even without the member who does it best). New Way jumps between bleary-eyed ravers like “No Limit Dance” and the scream-along “Slowly World.”

“Harbor” captures them at their best though. It’s a pulsating dance track growing in intensity throughout, while the three members of the group jump from rapping to singing — always finding new ways to express themselves vocally (check the use of bleeps later in the song). This is how to upend idol ideas, not with visuals and songs that sound like every other groups music, but to create something that refuses to gel into a familiar form. Listen above.