Single Review: Perfume – Human Factory -Denzo Ningen-

From the offset, the sound of “Human Factory -Denzo Ningen-” is familiar — adopting a synth-pop, new-wave sound which is reminiscent of Gary Numan’s The Pleasure Principle or Telekon. Or the productions of Richard X, the latter of whom found breakout success with a mashup of Numan’s “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” and Adina Howard’s “Freak Like Me”, which would become a number 1 hit for the Sugababes in 2002. And as per “Ima Ima Ima” and “Cosmic Treat”, there are BIG Yellow Magic Orchestra vibes too — specifically their album Solid State Survivor. Within Perfume’s own discography, “Human Factory -Denzo Ningen-” is like a fusion of “The Light” and “Ima Ima Ima”, with a bit of “Clockwork”, a dash of “Cling Cling”, a sprinkle of “Edge” and a splash of “Game”. Yasutaka Nakata circling back on sounds he’s done with Perfume before and throwing in clear nods to an act which has long been a clear influence of his is great. Whether Nakata is aware that he’s doing it or not, it helps reinforce that Perfume DO have a sound and Nakata has an act he’s inspired by. But it also reminds me that were Nakata to do a song like this in 2006, he would have nailed the structure of it far better.

Nakata used to have such a clear handle on song structure and making listening experiences feel whole and satisfying, even with songs which featured a tonne of repetition and barely any lyrics. But somewhere along the way he seems to have lost his knack for this. Creatively, Nakata is in a place where his sound feels like it’s the most colourful it’s been in years. He’s even venturing into new spaces and vibes, which is giving Perfume’s music the jolt that it desperately needed at this point in their career. Nakata seems more inspired creating Perfume’s music now than he seemed to be for the past 5 years. But these come-and-go song structures with no real peaks or energy shifts are causing Perfume’s songs to not feel full and complete, despite Nakata doing really cool things with the sounds. The sound Nakata taps into for “Human Factory -Denzo Ningen-” is absolute fire. It’s like hearing Perfume on a Richard X production. It’s been a while since we got a proper club record from Perfume, and we got one with “Human Factory -Denzo Ningen-”. But unfortunately, the sound alone isn’t enough to mask that Nakata didn’t deliver on the structure, which results in the song feeling like it doesn’t go anywhere.

Aside from Nakata not always delivering on structure — with Perfume’s songs specifically — he doesn’t always commit to the sound of the genre. Which is frustrating when you know that he can and you hear another song on the same album where he does. This was a problem I had with “Cosmic Treat”. Like, if you’re gonna do disco meets the 80s, then go all the way with it. Give me piano. Give me strings. Give me horns. Give me a breakdown. Highlight the guitar solo. Make it bigger. It’s the same thing here with “Human Factory -Denzo Ningen-”. The vibe is clear. But take it further. Give me dramatic flourishes. Give me creaking floorboards. Give me doors slamming. Give me wolves. Give me screams. Give me a theremin. Give me an intro that’s extra to REALLY set the mood. Go balls to the wall with all of it. If Nakata wants to create a concept album for Perfume which feels like a soundtrack to a film and is cinematic, then this is the time to really just go for it. Be a foley artist in this bitch. Throwing the kitchen sink in. Do the most. This was a real chance for Nakata to give Perfume a “Thriller” or a “This Place Hotel” type song, where there is a very clear narrative in the music and a journey we’re taken on. The foundation is there, Nakata just didn’t build on it, which is a common thing with his productions these days and why Nebula Romance: Part 1 felt a undercooked.

When I listen to “Human Factory -Denzo Ningen-” I get the vibe. I see the vision. I get the story Nakata wants to tell. But the problem is that Nakata doesn’t seem to fully know how to tell it. He doesn’t seem to consistently know how to fully tell any of the stories he creates these days and it’s a damn shame, because I like these worlds he’s creating with each of these songs and I really want to be taken on a journey through them. It’s like Nakata is whisking me into a Super Mario 64 painting and hitting me with ‘Ta-dah’. And I’m like ‘Okay, this is cool. So what star shall we go for here?’. And Nakata is like, ‘Bitch, I don’t know. I didn’t think that far ahead.’ And I’m like ‘Gurl.’ Then Bowser laughs, the screen goes black and we’re both thrown out of the painting. TAKE ME INTO THE PAINTING AND THEN TO THE STAR NAKATA.

If Nakata is in this space of wanting to set up stories and create narratives, then he needs to structure his songs in a way where listeners are being taken through a story which feels complete within a song. Some may say ‘The story is told across the album’. And I’d be willing to believe this could be the case, were Perfume’s albums always immaculately sequenced and if Nebula Romance: Part 1 wasn’t sat right there with a bunch of songs which don’t really tell enough of a story collectively. Even if an album is going to have a narrative which is told across it to form a complete story, each of the songs still needs to feel like its own story which can exist on its own. There needs to be a strong beginning, a compelling middle and an ending which sticks the landing. Listen to Triangle and then listen to Nebula Romance: Part 1 and you’ll hear the differences in Nakata’s approaches. “Human Factory -Denzo Ningen-” is compelling in its sound and the scene it sets, but it doesn’t do enough with it. Despite featuring key changes, switches and some variation throughout, the song still manages to feel like it’s not really going anywhere. It’s just going in circles for 4 minutes. Hopefully a live performance will take me on the journey that the song alone doesn’t.

When I listen to Perfume’s songs from their Bee Hive days, Game, Triangle, JPN and LEVEL3 — I feel fulfilled. The songs have a beginning, a middle and an end. The songs have levels to them. They feature peaks. I listen to Perfume’s older songs and I feel satisfied. But I don’t get that feeling anymore. Near enough every song on Nebula Romance: Part 1 had me like ‘The sound is great, but the structure isn’t tight enough’. It puts me off listening to them, because the experience feels too empty and all I think about is what could’ve been instead of what I got. It’s why I listen to my own mix of “Cosmic Treat” over the album version.

Perfume’s vocals are another aspect of their music which can let songs down for me, but Nebula Romance: Part 1 was a welcomed shift, which had Perfume being far more of a focus on songs than they were on Cosmic Explorer and Future Pop. And whilst I have been loud and constant about Nakata for-the-love-of-God letting Perfume be a little more free in how they sing — for once, I really like the monotone approach on “Human Factory -Denzo Ningen-”. It adds to the eeriness and unease of the song, especially when paired with the playfulness of the melody. It makes Perfume feel like overseers of what’s unfolding and that they’re toying with this person caught in this labyrinth they’ve found themselves in. Oh, side note. When I listen to “Human Factory -Denzo Ningen-”, I picture somebody lost in a labyrinth. Kinda like how Perfume were in the music video for “Pick Me Up”, when it looked like they were trapped in a Persona dungeon — some bizarro version of Uniqlo Ginza, where they’re being chased by mannequins. Nakata pushing this haunting idea more and having Perfume deliver a spoken word section in the song would have been really cool and felt like something new Perfume hadn’t done on a song before, drawing on the likes of the aforementioned “Thriller”. And Nakata playing with Perfume’s vocals across the song would have also helped build it out more. Pitching their vocals down at certain points. Chopping them up. Having them reverb and echo to make them feel haunting. Having them sing ooo’s and aaaah’s. The sound of the song almost calls for such things. But again, Nakata took us into a painting in Peach’s castle and then just stood there.

It’s almost a shame that “Human Factory -Denzo Ningen-” wasn’t released in time for Halloween and given a music video. But hopefully this vibe is something which will be captured on their Nebula Romance: Episode 2 Tour. And they could always give the song a nudge later in the year. They won’t. But they should.

I cannot stress enough how much I like the sound of “Human Factory -Denzo Ningen-”. It would not have taken much for “Human Factory -Denzo Ningen-” to be amazing and something to sit alongside the likes of “Game” and “Edge”. And this is what’s so frustrating about the version of the song that we got. We have instances where Nakata made everything work, so we know he has it in him. But he just…didn’t do it here.