¡°Level3¡± is going to look amazing live. Perfume member Ayaka ¡°A-Chan¡± Nishiwaki reportedly told producer Yasutaka Nakata that her trio wanted songs suited to the huge venues they¡¯d perform it in. Nakata has obliged. Perfume¡¯s fourth studio album ¡ª the first with access to Universal Music¡¯s deep pockets ¡ª is an attempt to position the group as a pop/EDM (electronic dance music) live force without fully going the route of Skrillex. It¡¯s not a leveling up of Perfume¡¯s sound, but a refinement of what the band intends to present in an arena circuit.

This becomes clear via the ¡°album mix¡± versions of three of the singles released over the past year and a half. ¡°Spring of Life,¡± ¡°Magic of Love¡± and ¡°Spending All My Time¡± were simple, catchy pop numbers. Here they get augmented with drawn-out intros and outros (it works on ¡°Magic,¡± not so much on the other two) that seem like setups for a big stage piece. All three work better than the other single released ahead of ¡°Level3,¡± the ¡°Doraemon¡± movie-tie-in ¡°Mirai no Museum¡± (¡°Future Museum¡°), which features a phoned-in electro-pop sound that is painfully out of place.

The bulk of Perfume¡¯s latest release finds Nakata taking moments from the trio¡¯s past and blowing them up into songs that, when performed live, will look fantastic with lasers. Opener ¡°Enter The Sphere¡± is a more fidgety version of 2007¡¯s ¡°Game,¡± while ¡°Sleeping Beauty¡± recalls that year¡¯s airy ¡°Butterfly.¡± The glitchy ¡°Daijobu nai¡± (¡°Not OK¡°) is an improved version of last album cycle¡¯s ¡°Nee¡± and ¡°Fake It.¡± The album¡¯s centerpiece, the seven-minute ¡°Party Maker,¡± updates 2009¡¯s ¡°Edge (Triangle Mix)¡± from Ed Banger dancefloor nihilism into the most EDM-ish track on the album. Nakata and crew pull off the largesse well (I¡¯m picturing holographic confetti raining down on the audience).

¡°Level3¡± mostly eschews the sonic hallmarks of EDM in favor of that style¡¯s grandiosity ¡ª this is Perfume¡¯s longest album yet, and it can drag. Yet the strongest moments come when Nakata incorporates EDM sounds in novel ways. ¡°Furikaeru to Iruyo¡± features pistonlike digital drums, but the song as a whole is a reggae-glazed shuffler that¡¯s like a big bottle of water after the frantic night out that is ¡°Party Maker.¡± ¡°Point¡± merges drum ¡®n¡¯ bass percussion with bubbly pop (and some lovely harp) to form the most daring production work Nakata has produced in the past two years. Album closer ¡°Dream Land¡± opens with music box twinkles and (more) harp, but flirts with dance music beats. It¡¯s the prettiest sounding track here. The bulk of ¡°Level3¡± feels like a live-show preview, but with enough great sonic moments sprinkled throughout to make it enjoyable at home, too.