Single Review: Kyary Pamyu Pamyu

It’s been a bit rough for Kyary Pamyu Pamyu’s music career over the past few years. Going from being this breakout star who gained international fame with “PonPonPon” as a result of her whimsical image and sound. Having number 1 albums, top 10 singles and being the face of countless brands and embarking on world tours. To having an album sell 4,000 copies, singles not even chart and the brand deals dry up to a point that she had to start her own brands to be the face of—a great move. Yes, Penty Pamyu. Build the empire.

But it was clear from early on that Kyary’s music career would have somewhat of a shelf life. Not because of the quality of the music, which has been remarkably consistent—far more than Perfume’s has managed to be. (If you know, you know). But because the premise of it could only be successful for so long.

Kyary’s music felt like a soundtrack to her non-music related activities. She was already a public figure before she put out music. The music was just an additional thing. ‘If I’m gonna be the face of brands, I may as well have a song to play in the commercials’. ‘If I’m going to be doing public appearances, I may as well do shows with my own songs’. That sorta thing. But the music blew up and everybody had accepted and embraced Kyary as a bonafide pop star, so she just…kept being a pop star. And credit to her, she’s lasted longer than I ever thought she would. But the real kicker is, that despite Kyary’s drastic decline in sales, she is still releasing really good music. Candy Racer was a damn good album. It not only showed ‘Oh, she isn’t a fluke with this music thing’, but it restored faith that her producer Nakata Yasutaka still had it, following a period of underwhelming songs he was producing for her and for others. And now here they are. Still delivering.

“Oedoedo” has no business being as good as it is.

So, I mentioned Perfume. And this is because I feel they’re often part of any conversation in regards to Kyary’s music, purely by proxy of both having their music be exclusively produced by Nakata Yasutaka. And a symptom of this is that there can sometimes be overlap with the songs they’re given, to such a point that they are interchangeable. It can also mean that whatever vibe Nakata is on at a given time becomes an umbrella sound for them both. Kyary’s Candy Racer album was more 90s than Perfume’s Plasma album was. But it did have an 80s vibe, which was leaned into for Plasma and Capsule’s comeback album, Metro Pulse. “Oedoedo” is a continuation of this 80s sound. But the cool thing about it, is that it feels very Kyary-centric. When I first heard the intro to the song, my first thought was ‘This could easily be a Metro Pulse song or a Perfume single to follow “Moon” and “Sumikko Disco”’—both of which are 80s as hell. But once “Oedoedo” got going, it became clear that it was a Kyary song through and through.

Ninjala | GungHo Online Entertainment / TV Tokyo

Something which has been continually present in Kyary’s music from Nanda Collection onward, are traditionally—to coin Hikaru Utada—‘Japanesey’ sounds. “Odeoedo” is a theme song for a season of a kids show about ninjas, so of course it would have this element. But many of Pussy Pam’s songs from Nanda Collection onward have pulled in traditionally Japanese sounds, something which has also informed her fashion and much of her pop star persona. And it was truly weird that her Japamyu album was so light on this, given the title. The ‘Japanesey’ element of Kyary’s songs may seem cliché and come off like a bit at times, but I like that it’s a continued motif in her music. “Ninja re Bang Bang” is one of my favourite Pussy Pam songs, so I’m cool with anything which sounds like it sits in the same space as it—which “Oedoedo” does. Marrying a Kyary trend, which is based on a national history, with an execution which is a nod to Japanese pop history specifically.

One of my favourite things about Japan is how it will clash Western / American things and aesthetics with its own or reimagine a Western thing, through a Japanese lens. Japanese pop in 80s did this a lot—taking a sound which was typical of American and British pop of the 80s, but adding traditionally Japanese sounds, progressions and arrangements. One album which comes to mind for doing this is Chisato Moritaka’s Kokon Tozai. And Kyary is doing the same thing with “Oedoedo”, which sounds like it could easily be a Chisato Moritaka song from the 80s. And whilst this has always been a part of Kyary’s brand, something about “Oedoedo” makes me feel that this perhaps might be something Kyary should lean into a bit more and that Nakata could play with a lot more.

We’re at a time in music where people are proudly releasing music of their cultures and heritages to wider markets and finding huge new audiences as a result. Burna Boy, Tems, Tyla, Bad Bunny, Karol G, Anitta. And then you even have Beyoncé tapping into this with everything she’s released since Black Is King, and something she’s pushing the boundaries of with Cowboy Carter. So “Oedoedo” feels incredibly right for now and is very on trend. Not only was it going global in the first place which played a huge part in Kyary’s success, but I don’t think we give Kyary credit for the part she played in Japanese pop music reaching America. There was a period when the likes of Katy Perry and Ariana Grande were saying on national TV how much they liked Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. Kyary putting her music back out there in that way would go to lengths at a time when the perception of J-pop is that it’s just like K-pop in a different language. But perceptions and genre reclamations aside—at the heart of it, “Oedoedo” is just a really good song. So it’s a real shame that Kyary has just snuck it out. Although in light of her pregnancy announcement, we now know why she did.

Ninjala | GungHo Online Entertainment / TV Tokyo

It is unfortunate that “Oedoedo” was just snuck out though, because it’s one of Kyary’s best singles in a while. For those who have been listening to Kyary for a minute, “Odeodeo” lands in a sweet spot which makes you remember what you liked about Kyary initially. But for new audiences, the immediacy of the song and the ‘Japanesey’ of it creates a sense of familiarity, nostalgia and distinctness. The 80s vibe also gives it an additional layer of appeal at a time when we’re all about throwbacks. And there ARE strong Yellow Magic Orchestra vibes in this song too, which is going to resonate with YMO fans, especially following the passings of Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto—who still has works releasing posthumously. But YMO vibes are hardly a surprise in something produced by Nakata Yaskutaka.

My only gripe with “Oedoedo” is that it feels too short to the point of incompletion—which has not only become a trend with singles in pop globally, but an unfortunate recurrence in Nakata Yasutaka’s productions for the past few years. “Odeodeo” has a TV edit and a longer version which I’ll just refer to as a single edit. There is only a 40 second difference in runtime between the two. It wouldn’t surprise me if the TV edit was the first version to be made, with that then being dragged out for another 40 seconds for a single edit. Nakata needn’t have bothered. Because dragging the TV edit out for a bit longer makes no difference to the song aside from…make it longer. There is no build, no greater climax or additional verses and vocals to make the song feel more complete. In an age of TikTok, the TV edit of “Oedoedo” being only 1 minute and 40 seconds long would probably work in its favour. But even with such a short space of time, you can still create a song which feels complete and whole. And don’t even bother holding your breath for an eventual album version.

When I reviewed Candy Racer, I had mentioned that I liked how much it charted a course for Kyary and Nakata to keep going. And whilst “Oedoedo” has its faults, it is still a really good single, which shows that there is still indeed juice in the tank for Kyary and Nakata to do this shit for a little longer.