In the streaming age, there’s a common misconception that longer equals better. That’s a routine criticism of TV shows, what could have been a tidy 120-minute movie gets stretched out into a 10-part series. Same goes for music with many releases over the last decade going as long as possible to take advantage of the platforms they are on.
J-pop trio Perfume’s Nebula Romance offers a more old-fashioned argument in favor of editing. The group’s eighth full-length emerged as a concept album split into two halves, with part one arriving last fall and part two now out both digitally and physically. This isn’t an attempt at maximizing Spotify streams via bloat, but ambition at doing something different from a group celebrating its 25th anniversary this month. Not all big swings hit though, and Nebula Romance’s back half doesn’t do enough to justify its size.
The biggest conceptual flaw stemming from part one related to just what the story even was. Nebula Romance’s album trailers and artwork implied a sci-fi adventure. Musically, long-time producer Yasutaka Nakata appeared to be following in the footsteps of one of his electronic heroes Tetsuya Komuro in constructing his own sonic epic ala TM Network’s Carol - A Day In A Girl’s Life 1991. It’s slightly better this time around — there’s no San-X-character-centric dance-pop like “Sumiko Disco” to completely torpedo whatever narrative is present — but still not particularly clear what’s going on. At least the video for “Meguru-pu” wraps it all up nicely, and once again finds the members of Perfume shooting laser guns.
The music also builds on the ‘80s-influenced dance-pop found on part one, and really the bulk of Nakata’s production work in the 2020s. Once on the cutting-edge, he’s become more fascinated by playing with the electronic sounds of yesteryear, whether it’s on self-referential albums by his group, CAPSULE, or with new projects like PiKI, whose debut single revels in Bubble-era idol shimmer. On this side of Nebula Romance listeners primarily get jogging synth-pop on cuts like “Saikidousekai” and “exit,” tracks featuring Perfume’s vocals largely untouched by filters and sounding apt for a montage. That’s catchy at least, which can’t be said for the slow-dance pacing of “Teenage Dreams,” among the weaker numbers in the Perfume catalog even before the fat digi-sax comes in.
Nebula Romance tries to adjust Perfume’s sound to something more retro-futuristic rather than the techno-futurisms marking the majority of its career. Even with this neon-sheen, everyone involved can deliver moments of pop pleasure — see the high-stepping funk of “Moon” or the synthesizer chug of the title track — though the best moments come when they touch on their own past. “Virtual Fantasy” recalls the mid-tempo, zero-gravity songs dotting the trio’s Aughts albums, while highlight “Solar Wind” uses techno-pop rhythms from Perfume’s earliest days alongside a more dramatic hook (plus, it ends up being the only song across either end to nod to itself, with a passage recreating the melody of “The Light” and giving a cinematic feel lacking elsewhere).
In the end, it’s less a continuation and more a sequel. Part one was flawed but marked by solid pop moments, which is pretty much the same this time around. It doesn’t build however, which makes the conceptual heft and playtime (over 70 minutes combined, making it the longest Perfume ever) of the entire Nebula Romance feel like a drag rather than a blockbuster, with many songs feeling like recycled ideas.
Within these two releases is one solid album — and perhaps even a tighter example of storytelling — but in its current form it’s too sprawling, its ambition unable to match the size.
It’s all taken on a more bittersweet taste, however, following the announcement this past week that Perfume would go on an extended hiatus (a “cold sleep,” in perfectly Perfume style) in 2026, with its two shows supporting Nebula Romance at Tokyo Dome being the group’s final concerts ahead of that break. Allowing the fan part of my brain to shove the critic aside, it makes me appreciate their eight album — flaws and all — for at least trying something big. Mostly, it reminds me that over the quarter-century the trio have been together, they’ve always moved forward and never stopped. Nebula Romance doesn’t stand as a strong entry in their discography, but it’s a nice reminder as they head off for the foreseeable future of Perfume’s spirit.
