Bitter and Sweet Refrain

Ah, the last Perfume review of 2013 is both bitter and sweet. Sweet because it's a Perfume review and bitter because... well, it's Sweet Refrain.

Yeah, yeah, spoilers. You all know I am not the most enthusiastic fan of Sweet Refrain. Still, I believe in doing the song justice by giving it a proper single review in which I can review both the A-side and B-side of this single. So I intend to give Sweet Refrain a proper single review, going over once again my opinions about the A-side and getting a chance to delve into my opinions about the B-side. I will admit, I find it very surreal that Perfume released a single so soon after Level3. I can't say I'm complaining that much, but it doesn't take away the surreal feeling of this entire release. I don't know, I guess the news and release of Sweet Refrain came so fast, that I didn't have much time to react. Not to mention I was still jamming to Level3. Still, this is a Perfume single, and there's nothing more fun than reviewing a Perfume single! While I have expressed disappointment with the A-side, perhaps the B-side will salvage this single? Maybe, maybe not. I will say what I was hoping for with Sweet Refrain was a B-side that would sound better than the A-side? Did my dreams come true? Or were they a pathetic desire that could have never happened? Let's find out! Onto the review!!!

Covers/Outfits

At first, I did not like the outfits for Sweet Refrain. I thought they were too dark and aged the girls by ten years. Now I think that may have had to do with a bad promo shot. Something about the way the girls were posing made the outfits look really matronly. When I saw the outfits in the PV, in the live performance and other miscellaneous photographs, I liked them a lot better. While they are a much more mature look for Perfume, the girls look very classy and elegant. And I like that the outfits aren't so uniform. I feel like a lot of Perfume's recent costumes have all had this default style to go to. You know, these costumes. Same style, just with different colors and patterns? Even if I wasn't initially jazzed by the costumes for Sweet Refrain, I was at least thankful that the girls had gotten to wear something that looked different. These costumes are very monochrome, with the only splashes of color being the bits of purple and the snazzy red shoes the girls get to wear. But the matching colors do give the girls a unified look, even if each individual outfit is different.

My favorite of the three outfits has to be Kashiyuka's, just because it looks so smart and crisp. Nocchi has a decent outfit too, and it is nice seeing her in a pantsuit. But I'd be lying if I said it didn't make her look like a high school principal. A classy high school principal but still. And then A-chan's dress... I don't have much of an opinion on. It looks nice, very pretty and mature. So yeah, in short, the outfits grew on me, even though I don't think they'll ever be my favorite Perfume single outfits. The covers follow the simple, mature theme the outfits have got going on. Both the Regular and Limited Editions are in black-and-white, with the hot pink title being the only splash of color. I have to say, I do like the color scheme, and black and pink is always a win-win combination in my eyes. There isn't much to say about the Limited cover. It's nice, but there's not a lot going on in it. The girls just look very elegant. Same goes for Regular. The room in that cover is pretty cool though, kind of retro looking. And the clocks do allude to the PV!

Sweet Refrain

I think I have gone very thoroughly over my opinions about Sweet Refrain. By now, I pretty much just feel like I'll be repeating myself for the third time. But if you don't want to peruse through paragraphs and paragraphs of text from my previous posts about Sweet Refrain, here's the short version! I personally think Sweet Refrain could have been a better song, especially as the first A-side to follow up the Level3 era. It sounds like a remnant of the JPN era mixed in with the sounds of the Level3 era. I don't know if that's because it was released for a drama, but for whatever reason, the song feels like a mishmash of two different styles. Sure, that can and does work, but here, it feels hastily cobbled together. I do think that Sweet Refrain had the potential to be a really good song; something along the way just ended up not working. In my opinion, that something is the vocals. Yes, the ultimate downfall of Sweet Refrain is that the vocal arrangement is too sweet-sounding to fit the instrumental.

I was only able to figure this out when I listened to the instrumental of Sweet Refrain and found that the song was a lot better sounding than I gave it credit for... when the girls weren't singing, that is. Sweet Refrain is a song rich with music box-style notes and EDM effects sprinkled amongst the instrumental. It's this really quirky combination of whimsically cute and dance-oriented. Listening to the instrumental makes me wish that Sweet Refrain had a better vocal arrangement. As it stands though, Sweet Refrain's vocals remain too cutesy and sweet. Not all parts of the vocals are bad though; the buildup before the chorus is nice. And so is the repetition at the end; I really like the slow fade-out the song does. Really Sweet Refrain isn't a terrible song; in fact, when I'm in the right mood, I actually enjoy listening to it! I don't know, I think Sweet Refrain has slowly been growing on me, and I would take it over some Perfume songs. However, even if I do end up enjoying this song more than I do now, I don't think I'll be able to ignore that flaws that Sweet Refrain has.

Luckily, the PV for Sweet Refrain does what so many Perfume PVs do: it enhances the song. Again, I have an entire PV review for Sweet Refrain if you want my full opinion. In short though, I like it. It's another artistic Perfume PV, one that relies on slick special effects and visual trickery to engage the viewer. The basic concept of Sweet Refrain is the idea that the girls of Perfume are exhibits in a museum. The PV is basically one endless rotation, showing each time what the multiple Perfumes do in the museum. They do activities ranging from dancing around in a circle to bouncing balls to posing in front of musical staffs, you know, normal stuff you see in a museum! The PV also features several homages to past Perfume dances, and if you're an expert on Perfume choreography, you might be able to spot them! I, of course, could not, but I still tried. Yeah, Sweet Refrain isn't really a PV with plot, but the effects in this PV are engaging enough.

What really impressed me about the PV for Sweet Refrain was the camerawork. This entire PV is shot so it looks like it's one continuous, rotating shot. That, of course, can't be because there's no way they could get tones of people who looked just like Perfume and placed them all in a room together! I really like the editing for this PV, and not just because I get to see a bunch of Perfumes in one room together. It's really mind-blowing how seamlessly these multiple doubles of the girls interact with each and their surroundings in the PV. I would actually like to see a making-of video for Sweet Refrain, to see how all these effects were done. Of course, the PV for Sweet Refrain isn't without its flaws. Mainly, the only thing I don't like about Sweet Refrain is the lack of color. This is a very muted PV, mainly being only the color white with very few splashes of color. It didn't look terrible, but the lack of color did make the PV look a little monotonous. Still, that didn't prevent me from enjoying the PV. Overall, I found the PV for Sweet Refrain to be a nicely done PV that boasted some extremely clever special effects.



I will give Sweet Refrain 3.5 out of 5 apples. I didn't really need another A-side so soon after Level3, and I'd be lying if I said Sweet Refrain was a good follow-up to such an amazing album. Still, it's a decent Perfume song, that I'm sure most Perfume fans will enjoy. Me, personally, I think it had its flaws, but even I can admit to listening to it of my own free will.

Koi wa Zenkei Shisei 

Ah, here is the elusive B-side! I heard absolutely none of Koi wa Zenkei Shisei until the weekend Sweet Refrain leaked. No previews, nada. I went into listening this song with absolutely no idea of how it would sound. All I hoped for was that it sounded better than Sweet Refrain. So the question is... does Koi wa Zenkei Shisei prove to be a better song than Sweet Refrain? Yes. Absolutely yes. If there was a show called Songs that Could Have Been A-sides, Koi wa Zenkei Shisei would be featured on it in glowing, neon letters. This song is so much more interesting than Sweet Refrain. I guess it was inevitable that Sweet Refrain would have to be the A-side though what with it being used for a drama and everything. Still, would it have been so bad to make this single a double A-side? I would have been completely okay with that. More than okay! But there are things that cannot be. And even though Koi wa Zenkei Shisei is merely a B-side, it is still a great song. Like Sweet Refrain, Koi wa Zenkei Shisei is a happy, upbeat song.

Unlike Sweet Refrain, Koi wa Zenkei Shisei is a happy, upbeat song that works. The very beginning is really cool in that it starts with the vocals being a lot less process before sliding into Perfume's usual vocoded and edited vocals. I also love the metronome-like sound effect at the beginning; it's similar to the way Communication started, only a lot less cuter. From there on, Koi wa Zenkei Shisei is a really sweet song, that has a very nicely layered instrumental. In fact, the instrumental is my favorite thing about this song. Of course, the vocals work well with the instrumental, like the parts where they echo and overlap over each other. I honestly don't have anywhere near as many problems with Koi wa Zenkei Shisei that I did with Sweet Refrain. I guess the only criticism I can really give is that it doesn't bring anything new to the table for Perfume? Even then, that doesn't prevent me from enjoying the song. Koi wa Zenkei Shisei is so much more musically interesting than Sweet Refrain; all I can do is lament that it wasn't the A-side.



But hey, at least I can give it some apples! And so I shall give Koi wa Zenkei Shisei 4.5 out of 5 apples. It isn't by any means the most exciting and fresh Perfume song, I've ever heard, but I still think it's a really great B-side with a quirky instrumental and nice vocals to match!

The Verdict

I stand by my opinion that Sweet Refrain was released too early. Level3 had only been out for less than two months; to release another single so shortly after the album was in my opinion, not a very wise marketing move. I mean, I like not having to wait six months for Perfume's next single, but Sweet Refrain just feels a little rushed. I think the only reason it was released so early anyways was because Sweet Refrain was included in that J-drama. If I had been in charge, I would have released the single after the completion of the dome tours, probably some time in January or February of 2014. As it is though, Sweet Refrain is... an interesting single. I've driven to death my problems with the A-side. In a nutshell, Sweet Refrain is too happy-sounding, reminiscent of the JPN era. That could work, but the problem is that the instrumental is much more EDM-oriented, with all the Dubstep thrown around in the song. The final result is a disjointed song that perhaps might work with some fine-tuning.

However, in its current state, Sweet Refrain is merely an all right song that could have been so much better. Luckily, Koi wa Zenkei Shisei picks up all the slack Sweet Refrain leaves, being an equally happy song with a much more cohesive and interesting sound. I particularly love the instrumental for Koi wa Zenkei Shisei, with all the cute quirky noises sprinkled about in it. Sweet Refrain is another case of the B-side being better than the A-side. I like Koi wa Zenkei Shisei so much better than Sweet Refrain; I at least hope it will be performed during one of Perfume's dome tours! Overall, I don't think Sweet Refrain is a bad Perfume single. In fact, compared to some Perfume singles, it's pretty good! I do like the style used for this single, and the PV for Sweet Refrain is lovely and artistic! However, this just isn't the best I've heard from Perfume. And as a follow-up single to Level3, it is kind of lackluster. If you're a Perfume fan though, I think you can get into Sweet Refrain. Besides, I have this nagging feeling that it's probably going to be a long time before Perfume releases their next single...

After meticulously compiling my opinions for the A-side, B-side and overall single, I have decided to give Sweet Refrain four apples. Even if the A-side is a little iffy, I highly recommend checking Koi wa Zenkei Shisei out. It's probably one of my favorite B-sides this year and the better of the two songs on this single. Now all I can do for Perfume this year is wait until images from the dome tours leak!

A Way-Too-Sweet Refrain

For the record, I still think Sweet Refrain is lame. Maybe not as much as I used to, but still pretty lame. However, now that the single has been released along with the PV, I have also given myself the time to reflect on why I think it is lame!

Yeah, Sweet Refrain is probably gonna be one of those songs that takes awhile to grow on me. Maybe not as long as Spending all my time did but still not overnight. Already I don't dislike it quite as much as I did when I first heard so hey, baby steps! It probably helps that I have a clear file of the audio and some really spanking nice headphones to listen to the song on. That being said, I still do have problems with Sweet Refrain. I have already touched upon most of my main criticisms for Sweet Refrain, and much of what I said remains the same. But something else about the release of Sweet Refrain has also come to my attention. This has nothing to do with the song itself; it's the release date. As much as I love Perfume, I think now was too early for them to release another single. They should have waited until after their Dome Tour performances and released this single in January or February. I know Sweet Refrain was a drama song, but the release of it as a single so soon after Level3 was in my opinion, a bad marketing move.

Normally, I'd be completely down with Perfume releasing something really super soon, but I feel like Sweet Refrain was too rushed. However, the single's out, and I'm late to review it. Just now am I reviewing the PV! Anyways, as long as the single's been released, there's nothing I can do about it except do what I do best and review it. So yeah... Sweet Refrain... what the hell am I supposed to say about this song? I feel like everything I'm going to say in this review has already been said. Well, as we all know, Sweet Refrain was written for the drama Toshidensetsu no Onna. I think the drama has something to do with relationships; I read the summary awhile ago, but forgot so clearly it must not have grabbed me. Anyways, previously in the career of Perfume, their last drama song was Spice, a song that happens to be one of my favorites from the JPN era. Back when I was still excited for Sweet Refrain, I was hoping that it would be similar to the sound of Spice: smooth, calm, and sleek.

Instead, I got... well... Sweet Refrain. Look, I'm not trying to come across as hating Sweet Refrain. It's really not even a terrible song! But that doesn't mean it's without it's problems. My biggest problem with Sweet Refrain is that I don't think it knows what kind of song it wants to be. Does it want to be a happy and lighthearted JPN-esque song? At some parts it does. The opening makes you think it is. And the chorus sounds extremely similar to Kokoro no Sports; I even played the two songs back-to-back to hear how alike those choruses sound. Unlike Sweet Refrain though, Kokoro no Sports at least sounds more cohesive. There are parts where Sweet Refrain sounds like it's trying to be a cool, edgy dance song from Level3. Mainly in the instrumental. It's a little bit jarring hearing this sudden appearance of Dubstep over the girls' sweet vocals. I admit, I don't dislike the Dubstep quite as much as I did when I first heard Sweet Refrain, but I could still do without it. And if it was going to be kept in the song, I would have liked it to stand out a little less.

Sweet Refrain is trying to combine these two different styles into one which isn't possible, but the end result is something that could still use fine-tuning. I get what Nakata was trying to do. It's what he did in Shiina Ringo's Netsuai Hakkakuchuu, combing Dubstep and other EDM effects with a sweeter song arrangement, and that song is flipping awesome. However, something just doesn't click with Sweet Refrain and I think it's that the song is too sweet-sounding. What worked with Netsuai Hakkakuchuu was that it wasn't overly sweet and did have a bit of a sinister edge to it. Sweet Refrain is as sweet as the title, especially the vocal arrangement in the chorus. Maybe if the chorus had gone the route of Meg's Prism Boy... oh my god. I just realized how to fix Sweet Refrain. Sweet Refrain needs to have the same chorus of Prism Boy. It has the buildup for it! Come on, that's legal right!? Nakata can just tell the girls to sing along to Prism Boy and bam! Problem solved! No? He can't do that? Dammit...

I am being serious though, if Sweet Refrain's chorus sounded less like Kokoro no Sports and more like Prism Boy, this might have been a better song. Prism Boy starts out more-or-less in the same tone as Sweet Refrain, and what makes the chorus so great in that song is how the it just envelops the rest of the song like a wave. Sweet Refrain has a lackluster chorus that should have been more sweeping more... dramatic. Not some cutesy Kokoro no Sports-esque type of chorus. See? It's stuff like this that can be easily fixed that ultimately prevents Sweet Refrain from being a really great song. Okay... I've spent like two paragraphs bashing the hell out of this song, is there anything I do like about Sweet Refrain? Well... I actually do like the instrumental. I know I was complaining about the Dubstep, but I still do think the instrumental to Sweet Refrain is interesting. My opinion of Sweet Refrain's instrumental is pretty similar to the same as the one for the instrumental of Voice: it's better than the actual song.

Here, without the really cute vocals, all that Dubstep fits better, and I can get a better feel of what Nakata was trying to accomplish. And without the girls singing, I can finally hear all the little embellishments that make Nakata's music so interesting. There are a lot of really nice little moments in the instrumental for Sweet Refrain. I feel weird saying this, but it's really the vocals of Sweet Refrain that make it such a disjointed song. The vocals sound way too sweet and adorable and needed to be toned down in order to match with the song. And considering the girls of Perfume basically sing the song however they want to in the recording studio... it's their fault this song sounds so weird! I guess I do like the end of the song where "Refrain" is repeated over and over... all the other parts need to lay off the sugary-sweetness. Look, I still don't think Sweet Refrain is a bad song. I'd take it over, say, Speed of Sound or Mirai no Museum. But there are elements of the song that could have been handled better, so in the end, my overall opinion of the song remains mixed.

But something I can always expect from Perfume is that even if they have a lackluster song, they will usually get an interesting PV to go with it! Usually. Let's hope I didn't jinx it and Sweet Refrain is actually a good PV.

What time is it?

It's Perfume time!

Now we're off to the Perfume Museum! (and no, it's not the Mirai no Museum)

To the back, you'll see Perfume trying to recreate music notes.

And here, you'll see them performing a dark ritual to summon the power of Dark Lord

Ah, the Fall of A-chan! Quite a thought-provoking piece, if you ask me.

Aw, look at Mini!Perfume! Their outfits are so adorable!

Poor Kashiyuka, all alone while A-chan and Nocchi stare at each other.

This is Spending all my time all over again!

Time is but an illusion in the Perfume Museum.

Was... was that a dance move from Perfume no Okite?

Does this PV consist of homages to other Perfume dances? Because if it is, I'm gonna suck at figuring out which dance matches with which song.

Okay, I know this is the actual dance to Sweet Refrain.

Mini!Perfume dancing is adorable.

Okay, maybe this is a reference to...? I'm really not sure.

I love how each rotation features a variation on every action in the Perfume Museum.

Now there's a Perfume Line, the best kind of line in my opinion!

Meanwhile, this Perfume continues diving into the occult. Fun!

Check out the other Perfume peeking around the corner!

...if they're just gonna leave those shoes there, I'm taking them. Surely one pair will fit me!

Uh-oh. I don't think Nocchi would be pleased.

Time for another round of Ring Around the Perfume!

Perfumes, Perfumes everywhere...

The Perfume Guide to Sitting in a Chair. Groundbreaking!

More of snooping!Perfume! I like it!

Is anyone else experiencing deja vu, or is it just me?

Meh, probably just me.

Agh, I know I've seen these poses in other Perfume dances! I just can't remember which ones!

Now the ritual is complete. We will have another #1 single again.

All right, I definitely recognize that pose from Spring of Life!

Now if only I could figure out the 50 other dance references in this PV...

Oh no, I guess I'm out of time...

Thank goodness this PV is better than the song. What I always like about Perfume PVs is that watching them can magically raise my opinion of the song they accompany. Maybe not by much but just a little bit! Sweet Refrain is definitely a very interesting PV. After the colorful visual spectacle that was Magic of Love, I did wonder just what kind of PV their next single would have. Like Magic of Love, the PV for Sweet Refrain is one that relies on visual trickery. While there may be no overarching plot, Sweet Refrain is still a very engaging PV to watch mainly thanks to the technical effects. In fact, the more I watch this PV, the more in awe I am of the effects used in this PV. Sweet Refrain is shot so that it looks like one continuous spinning shot. There are a series of different areas in this shot: the chairs with clocks, the floating circles, the triangles, the music staff, the triangles, and a few other little sections before going back to the chairs in the opening part. The seamless rotation of the camera is awe-inspiring enough; then there's what the girls are doing during the PV. Each section has the girls doing something, whether it be dancing, bouncing balls, posing, etc.

What changes each time the camera starts rolling back around from the clocks on the chairs are the number of girls in each section. The number of Perfume girls increases in each rotation, with them sometimes appearing in larger numbers in one section or appearing in a completely different area all together. It's kind of similar to the effect used in the PV for Magic of Love, except on a completely different level (you might say it's on... Level4... sorry I couldn't resist). Much like the rotating camera, the multiple Perfumes look just as effortless. Even though I knew that obviously there weren't 10+ Kashiyukas in one room, it still looked real enough that I was able to suspend any disbelief I might have had. Even if nothing else in the PV for Sweet Refrain would have stood out, the visual effects are enough to make this an interesting PV. I don't know how they pulled off the technicals in this PV, but they're mesmerizing to watch on screen.

And then there's the concept of the PV for Sweet Refrain. I admit, I was a little confused about what that was before reading it. I thought maybe it had something to do with monotony? Turns out I was completely off. The concept for this PV was that it was a "museum" featuring Perfume. Funny how this PV had more to do with a museum than Mirai no Museum. Ugh, I don't want to dwell long on that release. So each section was like an exhibit featuring the girls doing something. And I think there are some parts where the girls are doing dances and poses relating back to their past releases. I could definitely see it with a few of the poses. I think a few hand motions were reminiscent of Spending all my time or maybe even the JPN Special from the JPN Tour. See, that's the problem with being a sucky dancer; you can never tell what choreography goes with what! I love watching Perfume dance, but even I can't figure out all the dance references in the PV for Sweet Refrain. I still think it's a really clever idea though.

I always like when artists with a bunch of singles under their belt references their past singles. It's fun to watch, especially for older fans! And of course the PV wasn't filled with just dancing! Perfume did a bunch of a random things throughout this PV like bouncing balls, peaking around corners, posing, you know, things people do everyday! Yeah, the PV for Sweet Refrain is definitely an artsy PV. As a result, it doesn't make a lot of sense, and the imagery can get a little nonsensical at times. But it's no different than some of Perfume's other artsy PVs! Some of my favorite Perfume PVs have been their artsy ones but admittedly, I didn't like the PV for Sweet Refrain as much as Voice, Magic of Love, or Fushizen na Girl. I think that's because there isn't a lot of color in the PV for Sweet Refrain. Nearly everything is some shade of white, and I'd be lying if I didn't say that was a kind of muted to look at on the screen. The dominantly black outfits the girls wore didn't help much with the color scheme of the PV for Sweet Refrain either.

Speaking of the outfits, I think they've finally grown on me. When the promotional image for Sweet Refrain was released, I didn't like the outfits that much. I thought they made the girls look really old and boring. But in the PV, they work much better, especially when the girls are dancing. Besides, I'm happy they finally managed to move away from that style scheme they've been using for the past what? Two years? I swear it feels more like four, but I'm pretty sure it's two years. You know, the Magic of Love-esque outfits except with the colors and patterns changed? Even though the outfits for Sweet Refrain do make the girls look older, I like that all the outfits look different from one another. Like Nocchi gets the snazzy pantsuit, A-chan's wearing the classy dress, and Kashiyuka got the elegant... robe? I'm not quite sure what to call Kashiyuka's outfit, but it looks nice! And they all get red shoes which are a much-needed splash of color in the PV for Sweet Refrain.

One of my favorite parts in the PV is when their shoes are placed in an empty area, and the girls pop their heads out for a brief moment. Another part of the PV I liked a lot was the inclusion of the miniature dancing Perfume. They were so tiny and cute! It's the little parts like that that make Sweet Refrain such a nice PV. It's not my favorite Perfume PV, but I do like the concept for it. The PV also has enough charm and grace that it's still an enjoyable PV to watch. While the PV for Sweet Refrain may not make me forget all the problems with the song, overall, it's still a pretty cool PV. The fact that it's an artsy PV is enough for me to at least give it a thumbs up. The visual trickery throughout the entire PV is what really makes it stand out. It adds to the whimsy in the PV, and makes for a very entertaining, if rather dizzy PV. Sure, I think the PV for Sweet Refrain could have used a little more color, but it was still an interesting PV. Even if I still think Sweet Refrain was released too early, at least I got to screencap and review the cool PV for it! I think that's enough of a consolation.

So Perfume ends the year with Sweet Refrain, and I end my last PV review of a Perfume song for this year by giving it a three-and-half apple rating. To say the song is not the best Perfume song I've ever heard is an understatement. However, it's not a horrible song either. The PV picks up the slack by being a thoroughly interesting, artistic endeavor that's a clever homage to Perfume's dances of the past.

Sweet Refrain is Lame

♪It's lame! It's lame! It's lame lame lame!♫

I will run through the streets singing that if that's what I need to do to properly convey just how lame I think Sweet Refrain is. And you know what's even lamer? The fact that it's a single! This lame song of lameness is going to be the first single after Level3! Isn't that hilarious? Ha. Ha ha. Maybe this isn't as hilarious as I originally thought.

Normally when I announce Perfume news, I think I'm pretty perky about it. After all, they're my favorite group to review! Any news of releases or concerts from them is always happy news, right? Well... not always. Like when a song you're not a huge fan of turns out to be the next A-side. Or when they announce a tie-in with a children's franchise. One or the other! I of course am referring to Sweet Refrain, the next... single for Perfume. The song has actually been known for awhile now, even before Level3 was released. That's because Sweet Refrain was announced as the ending song for a J-drama called Toshidensetsu no Onna. And naturally before I'd even heard what the song sounded like, the prospect of new Perfume music only added to the ecstatic buzz I had for the release of Level3. But then everything changed when... I heard the song. Or the short version at least.

 In that moment, I realized that Sweet Refrain was a very, very lame song. Like... holy crap, is it lame. I don't even think it's a bad song, it's just lame. It sounds like a reject from the JPN era mixed with some gratuitous dubstep and a beat that's all over the place. And upon realizing just how lame Sweet Refrain sounded, I grew a lot less excited about its release. So when I heard it was going to be an A-side? I laughed. And cried. But mostly laughed. I'm sorry, I just don't think this is a very strong song. Even after I've heard the full version on Perfume Locks! I still don't like Sweet Refrain very much. I don't want to say I hate it as much as I did Spending all my time and it's a whole lot better than Mirai no Museum but for an A-side? It's pretty weak. I think my biggest problem with the song is that structure wise, it's really messy. None of the verses match and the chorus sounds like the chorus from Kokoro no Sports. I swear to god, even the tempo is the same as the chorus in Kokoro no Sports. Now Kokoro no Sports is a fine and dandy song and all but I only need one Kokoro no Sports.

 

Sweet Refrain just feels like a poorly blended mix of the sound from JPN and the sound of Level3. Look, if Nakata wants to go all cutesy technopop for Perfume's next single, I'm cool with that. If we he wants to go EDM, I'm cool with that too. But this is like some kind of botched attempt at combining the two styles. And the end result is a messy pile of lameness. Even after seeing the covers and outfits for Sweet Refrain, I'm still not that hyped for it. It's weird because Perfume releasing something new so soon after Level3 is something to get excited about! I had to wait eight months between the release of ⊿ and Fushizen na Girl/Natural ni Koishite. Yet even that doesn't get me excited about Sweet Refrain. Even when the covers and outfits were revealed for the single, I'm still not getting the hype. That might be because I don't even really like the outfits that much for this single. I know everyone's been fawning over how mature the girls look in them, and I admit they do. But they look old and washed out. It's like they've aged 20 years. I think what would help is having the outfits be a little more colorful. The black and gray color scheme is depressing to look at.

I don't know, maybe the outfits look better when they dance in them? I guess it is a refreshing change from the monotonous styling they've been getting lately with all their outfits. And then there are the covers, which look okay I guess. Like the outfits, they're very mature looking with the black and white color scheme. I do kind of like the little splash of pink font. And having the clocks they hold display each member's birth date is pretty clever. But I'm not jumping up and down either. I'm even having a hard time trying to write about my impressions of Sweet Refrain so far, because how many times can I say it's lame before my readers start to get bored? Hell, I'm getting bored just talking about this song! I don't know, Spice was also used for a drama and that song grew on me a lot. Who knows? Maybe Sweet Refrain will do the same. But the PV better be pretty freaking awesome, along with the B-side.

So yeah. Sweet Refrain exists. And it's an A-side. And it's lame. Come to think of it, there are a lot of lame songs coming out like Heart Electric, Chiisana Kiseki, that Weather Girls song I can remember the name to... maybe November's just shaping up to be the month of absolute lameness!