[New Music] Perfume – Spending All My Time

Our worst fears have just becomes a reality: Perfume have gone Western.

Well, kind of.

After signing a global record deal with Universal Music in March, Perfume have gone and adopted a more international sound for their new single “Spending All My Time”, which officially drops in Japan next month.

It’d be difficult to pick “Spending All My Time” as a Yasutaka Nakata production if you didn’t already know that it was a Perfume single. The Euro-synths recall recent hits from Calvin Harris, and Perfume’s trademark vocal distortion has been toned down to make their voices more audible.

Nakata’s recent work with Kyary Pamyu Pamyu has been a breathe of fresh air, allowing him to evolve his sound and take into quirkier, poppier places that Perfume’s clubbier approach doesn’t usually allow. He clearly has more pressure to create commercially hits for Perfume, who now stand as one of Japan’s most successful girl groups, but turning Perfume into a J-Pop version of Calvin Harris is not the way to go.

Excuse me while I go rape the replay button on “Glitter” for the billionth time this month.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 26th, 2012 at 7:31 pm and is filed under New Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • http://twitter.com/SuzySooyoung Suzy Sooyoung

    As a huge Perfume fan, Im VERY VERY mad at whoever had the idea to release this piece of generic crap as single.

    Perfume have their unique sound and this is pure disspointment. Not loving this. I understand the idea of taking over the world (and I love that) but goddammit this sounds TOO western. Anyway, it still shits on most of western releases by faaaaaaar.

  • http://twitter.com/Davidsuxx デイビッド

    They’re so flawless though i hope they try to break into the american market sooner or l8r

  • http://twitter.com/Davidsuxx デイビッド

    Love them & i love this tbqh

  • pikolita

    what the hell they did with my girls, sorry i dont like it, this is not my perfume girls, they have to bring back my girls. DEADDDDDDDDDD.

  • viridis

    GRRRRRR!!!! >:(

  • Blah

    but for me, not a usual k-pop listener, this is AMAZING. why? yes it is super generic but made in a way no western babe could and it slays my life.

  • http://twitter.com/cuntgettineaten mala hierba

    I’m actually feeling it (past the intro). Much better than the Wonder Girls going western imo.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003689835605 Michael Aaron Henry

    Since Perfume is my #2 favorite girl group of all-time (after Girls’ Generation) I absolutely LOVE that they are willing to make new sounding music!

    I had my mouth wide open the first time I listened to this and it was all in a pleasant surprise! Perfume honestly needs a song like this if they ever think America, Europe, and every other English-Speaking country is ever going to give them a chance.

    This songs serves as a good ‘trap’. Once you listen to it, it hooks onto you and won’t let you go! And from there on, that person will listen to their other music and fall in love with the amazing and unique sound that is PERFUME!

    <3

    THIS SONG IS BOSS AND IDC WHAT YOU SAY! PERFUME WILL NEVER DISAPPOINT! :D

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003689835605 Michael Aaron Henry

    Can I Make Love To Your Comment??

    Exactly what this is! Super Generic But Only Perfume Can Make This Song FANTASTIC and TOO GOOD!

    THANK YOU!

  • http://twitter.com/cuntgettineaten mala hierba

    I wouldn’t call it “super generic,” because even when it does borrow elements from the current fads in pop music, you can still hear that Perfume “something” that doesn’t make it sound like a song from Rihanna, Katy Perry or Nicki Minaj.

  • Blah

    god this is on replay, i’m dying. their pic is all shades of awesome btw

  • theprophetblog

    It’s better to keep what makes you unique in the first place rather than trying to change yourself to fit others. And Perfume aren’t the kind of group who are going to break internationally like One Direction or something LOL. They should just do what they do, but push remixes and stuff so they get a following on the club scene and more pop fans discover them.

  • theprophetblog

    It’s J-Pop not K-Pop.

    Japan and Korea are two different countries with two very different music industries.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003689835605 Michael Aaron Henry

    Very true but every artist must experiment in their career to see what sounds good and what sounds bad.

    In my opinion, this isn’t too different to not be called a Perfume song. It has so many elements that they have been using for 10 years and many more that are brand new to Perfume.

    Why not let the girls experiment and have some fun with their sound? They seem pleased and let’s see where this song and the following Asian tour can lead them :)

    I AM HOPEFUL! <3

  • Blah

    sorry babe

  • iAmJayDO

    The only problem I have with this is that it sounds like Perfumes vocals put over a Calvin Harris instrumental…

  • http://twitter.com/HyunAKnowles HyunA Knowles

    WTF?! This isn’t Perfume! Not only is the production super generic, but it also makes the repetitive lyrics so annoying that it cringe me to death. Normally, I wouldn’t bitch about repetitive lyrics from Perfume, but this one is soo annoying I’m not gonna listen to it anymore.

  • http://twitter.com/ETalk90 EntertainmenTalk

    Don’t mind the vocals being toned down a bit, but that production has to go and fast. Overall this is NOT the signature Perfume that I’m use to.

  • http://www.joey-nation.blogspot.com/ Joey Sauer

    Reviewing while listening to the song for the first time…

    Umm why does this sound like a b-side RedOne intro?

    Oh the vocals are so un-distorted.

    Oh god it sounds so Euro-Pop-ish! WHY. Noo. It reminds me scarily of swedish model/singer/E! star Victoria Silvsted’s song “Hello Hey”.

    Still it’s not awwwfffuul, but the music is way too simple and the chorus is boring. I think I’ll skip buying this one on iTunes and carry on listening to ‘Spring of Life’ on repeat.

    Ooh I got like the song at 2.25. Actually, nevermind. Well it’s not terrible and still slays Rihanna, Bieber and Minaj’s respective discographies, it’s far from Perfume’s best.

  • sylfi

    Honestly, if you listen to Nakata’s other stuff, this sounds a LOT like a capsule song, specifically “Step on the floor”. It has a VERY capsule beat to it, and it’s basically a more euro-dance version of said song. When I first heard the song, I thought it sounded generic, but now that I’ve listened to it more, it’s sounding more and more like a Perfume song.

    I don’t get what’s so wrong with them playing around with their sound anyway. They took a risk with a more Western sound on their a-side. So what? We still have “Hurly Burly” and “Point” as the b-sides, which are CLASSIC Perfume, and in “Hurly Burly’s” case, a complete banger. They’ll probably go back to their regular style after this, but I think it’s an interesting diversion.

    Catchy as fuck, too.

    SPENDING ALL SPENDING, SPENDING ALL MY TIME

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Pingo-McGraw/100002169160218 Pingo McGraw

    WTF!!! Perfume not being Perfume, and mimicking your cheapest faves. What a nightmare

  • http://twitter.com/curdey Michael Curd

    I agree HyunA – I LOVE LOVE LOVE Perfume, but tbh I cant stand this track! :( Its the first perfume song I dont like :( :( :( waaaaaaaahhh!!!! At least Hurly Burly sounds epic though!

  • f

    song is fucking awful. sounds like an incredibly dilute version of EVERY OTHER WESTERN POP SONG of the last 3 years. WHY perfume WHY?? ;_;

  • Erica Russell

    I’m a huge Perfume fan, but I don’t think I like this. :( By the way, does anyone else think that the beat sans vocals (around 1:07-1:20) sounds like “Dirty Talk” by Wynter Gordon?

  • http://twitter.com/TheProphetBlog The Prophet

    Noooo! Step On The Floor is another Glitter, which is the best sound for Perfume. I don’t want Perfume doing American Top Forty influenced stuff — not coz it’s ‘bad’, but because it isn’t Perfume.

  • http://twitter.com/StopItLuke Luke

    EWW!!! WTF is this?! OMFG… so dissapointed it’s awful… and I’m a huge Perfume fan. I never get how labels are so dumb that they see a band has an underground Western following, are doing very well in their own market so decide to sign them and then decide to go against everything their current fans Eastern & Western like about them and turn them into a shitty Western imitation?! *SIGH*
    I know “Hurly Burly” will slay, Perfume just need to stick to their own sound, this is bunk and if I wanna listen to this trash i’ll just turn up the radio.

  • http://twitter.com/StopItLuke Luke

    Is conforming to the standard radio trash really considered “experimenting” though???

  • john

    SOUNDS JUST LIKE “DIRTY TALK” was my first thought when I heard this. But I still love it!!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003689835605 Michael Aaron Henry

    How are they conforming?

    They are using the same producer, with the same style of concept, with a little club mixed in?

    Damn I swear every Perfume fan needs to calm their tits LOL…

    Just let them do what they do and you all know once the PV comes out no one will remember all of this hate XD

  • midori325

    My God guys give it a chance, its a damn preview. You’ll hear the full song and feel like an idiot for your sudden hate. Look, I’ll admit first listen I didn’t know what to make of this song, yes its different and a little clubby but I gave it a day and then listened to it again and now I love it. How many bands are willing to try something so different from their own style just to give a gift to the minority of their fans. That’s right, this was no doubt designed as a gift to the western audience but all you want to do is hate it. Well personally I love it, I can’t hate a Perfume song just because it seems more western, and if you do then you were never really a fan to begin with, you just wanted to like them to be different. Except that bands change and that no doubt the majority of their songs will stay the same. They just wanted something to give to a western audience, so that new listeners can hear this song, enjoy it and then go find all their old songs and fall in love with them just like we did.

  • http://twitter.com/StopItLuke Luke

    They may be using the same producer but anyone can hear that they’re conforming to the generic western trash that’s dominating the airwaves over here atm… That is a dumb ass move, they take away everything uniquely Perfume and they will flop and the angry fans know this… Look at what happened to Utada & BoA when they got watered down to Western standards.

  • http://www.facebook.com/hizamazukinasai Rillianne Lucifen d’Autriche

    I’m a huge Perfume fan and I think this song is nice. I don’t really mind a few changes. FYI, I’ve been raping the replay button for this song. This isn’t really awful. Sometimes, you just have to understand somethings (and there I go with my hypocrisy).

    I understand all your feelings of dislike for this. I’m sure you dislike this like how I dislike some songs but I won’t let such get to me. Especially since this is Perfume, I’m ULTRA patient with them.

    I was also surprised to hear the intro of this but the more I listen to this, the more I feel like partying with this song. I think it’s really good that they experimented on their music style.

  • Cheverliza

    It still sounds perfume for me though, they just trying to use English words. It’s not bad to have variations. Sounds good for me.

  • Random J

    Fuck the haters. “Spending all my time” is a hot song. I prefer it to “Spring of life” which despite loving on a first listen, I did not put on my iPod and listen to that much long after it released.

    Those saying that this sounds NOTHING like Nakata clearly hasn’t listened to enough of what that man has done over the years and are basing his style on Perfume’s music alone.

    I love that Perfume came with something different than normal. Yes, they went “Western”, but the song to me is still hot and comes off as effortlessly as their stuff usually does.

    It’s a great pop record. And when the video drops haters will be singing a different tune. Because we know Perfume do NOT fuck around with the music videos.

  • http://twitter.com/ICONI3 ICONI3

    I like it but the constant repeat of “Spending” is annoying.

  • KingBeaArthur

    Hmm…not loving this one unfortunately

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=513439726 Sharon Overlord

    I have to say, I like perfume but I can not hear their songs without watching their video. I think I only came across two songs I would actually think of putting on my ipod. I just like the creativity of their videos.

    Jpop sounds so different, that there are only a few groups I like. The rest I hate. So I was surprised to hear the PV and actually found myself really liking the song. Their voices are distorted less, which made it far more easy to listen to.

    But I understand why some fans are not having it. We listen to jpop to hear something different than what is playing on our radios.

  • Mika

    When I heard SAMT at first I didn’t like it, I spent about 2 hours complaining about it. It was very repetitive and those kind of things would only work on there earlier discographies.

    Afterwards, I decided to listen to the song one more time..
    I happened to like it because it still kind of sounds like Perfume even if they changed just a bit, and it sounds very new.
    I listen to it a lot, because it gets very addicting after you look past the frequent “spending” lines.

    Its only one song, plus the album has “Hurly Burly” and “POINT” cushioning it, so I’m pretty pleased.

  • http://twitter.com/caitlinburns_ Caitlin Burns

    Why isn’t anyone freaking out about the globalist symbolism in the PV for “spending all my time” ?? see here : http://blog.caitlin-burns.com/symbolism-in-spending-all-my-time-by-perfume/