Make Believe Melodies Logo

New Perfume: “ねぇ” But Ya Gotta Work For It!

So the new Perfume single “ねぇ” and accompanying video worked its way onto the internet today. Unfortunately the folks at Perfume’s label swooped in and cut ’em all down. Or so I think. Look, sorry to play cryptic dude but until the folks at Tokuma Japan Communications give me advanced copies of their singles/hire me (hit up my e-mail!), I’m gonna do what I can to “fight the man” if you will. So..have you checked Perfume City recently? A little bird tweeted to me (cough cough) some good info.

After two adventure-like singles earlier in the year, Perfume hunker down and make some meat-and-taters techno-pop on “ねぇ.” This is Perfume, after two slippery main singles and two thrilling B-sides, reminding fans they can still drop a simple but satisfying track into the world. Like plenty of tracks the trio has done before, “ねぇ” wastes no time getting to the best part, leading off with a chorus that should be annoying considering it’s 90 percent the titular word but surprisingly solid. From there we get a bouncy chorus peppered by some electro-squiggles before hitting that sweet hook again…rinse and repeat. Producer/wizard Yasutaka Nakata fits in some interesting wrinkles – the glitchy pre-verse light show for one. Yet the real standout here is that simple but attention-grabbing beat, Nakata busting out the big cheesy 80s-evoking smacks for the main percussion while also working in some more bongo-lite business as well. After compiling a Sportscenter-Top-Ten worthy of slam dunks this year, “ねぇ” feels like a perfectly executed lay-up – not breathtaking but still damn good.

Video wise…which of course you can’t see…”ねぇ” isn’t terribly exciting, just the three members dancing around a green-screened city mostly to model whatever Natural Beauty Basic’s winter line features. But there is a cat!