Perfume reveal the album covers for their 7th studio album, Plasma

Perfume have unveiled the cover for their 7th studio album Plasma. And y’all. They’re good. Like... They might be some of Perfume’s best album covers.

One thing is for sure. Plasma is definitely the first album since Game, where every edition of the album has a great cover. Triangle limited edition cover. Trash. JPN limited edition cover. No. LEVEL3 limited edition cover. Ugly. Cosmic Explorer limited edition cover. Why? Future Pop limited edition cover. Disgusting. Plasma however...

Perfume - Plasma | Limited press edition [CD + DVD / Blu-Ray]

Perfume - Plasma | Limited edition [CD + DVD / Blu-Ray]

Perfume - Plasma | Standard edition [CD]

Perfume really fooled my ass with that new visual they shared a week ago. I looked at that “Cling Cling”, 2021 MTV VMA Japan looking-ass photo and said ‘Where is plasma in this concept?’. Then Popo-chan turned out the lights and switched the lasers on.

Each of these covers is stunning. And if a fan were to turn around and say that they are buying all 3 editions of the album just to have each of these covers, I would completely understand. But the standard edition is the one for me. I always find standard editions of Japanese releases to feature the best cover. All of the standard editions of Perfume’s albums have the best covers, and ain’t shit changed here with Plasma.

The composition of each of these shots is gorgeous. But the standard edition is the most striking. I just immediately thought ‘vinyl sleeve’. Not only because this shot would genuinely look great on a vinyl sleeve, but because it reminds me of certain types of album covers which were pretty standard during the late 70s and into the 80s. Space. Lasers. Spotlights. Triangles. ABBA’s Super Trouper. The Jacksons’ Victory. Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Earth Wind Fire’s Electric Universe. All of Boston’s album covers. It was a distinct aesthetic, and one which has stuck.

Perfume have a very set and consistent aesthetic when it comes to the ways in which they are shot, how they look and how they pose; so there are themes which carry across all of their album covers. The most notable ones being triangles and some form of geometry. But even with this, the Plasma covers manage to seem almost like a deliberate combination of themes we’ve gotten across all of Perfume’s album covers (and even some single covers) to date, in the same way that the songs we’ve gotten so far sound like combinations / references of styles from across their discography. And the same can even be said for their choreography for “Polygon Wave” and “Mawaru Kagami”.

Perfume have confirmed that “Spinning World” will be the last single release before Plasma releases on July 27th. And I have a feeling that the music video will be a “1mm” type of affair - with “Spinning World” sharing the same concept as Plasma’s album cover, just as “1mm” shared the same concept as the LEVEL3 cover. And if this ends up being the case, and we manage to get these albums cover truly come to life, then we could be in for a treat. Perfume’s music videos these days be as inconsistent as their music. So who the fuck knows what the “Spinning World” music video will turn out like.

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