Perfume’s music video for “Moon” is as dusty as the surface of the moon itself

So, Perfume have released the music video for “Moon”. And...it’s dusty y’all. I’m not shocked, nor surprised. I figured that it would be, given Perfume’s track record of music videos since “Sweet Refrain”, which was their last great music video.

“Moon” deserved so much better than this...

The problem with Perfume’s music videos these days is that they are just the single covers in motion. And, yes. I know, I know. Perfume’s music videos have (almost) always been a case of being the single covers in motion. But even so, the videos used to feature some cool visual element or twist. Think of the likes of “Magic of Love”, “Spring of Life”, “Laser Beam”, “Love the World”. The music videos were more than JUST the the cover arts in motion. Where-as now I feel like I may as well just be staring at the single cover art in full screen whilst I’m listening to the song on streaming, because the videos aren’t giving me much more anyway. And it’s so unfortunate that this is happening with Perfume’s music videos now, at a time when Perfume’s music is actually decent again.

Perfume - Moon | Universal Music

Perfume’s music videos these days just seem lazy; which I know is crazy to say given the work that goes into the choreography and the clear effort being made with the set builds and setups. But Perfume’s music videos these days feels like a case of great concepts, executed in the most sterile way. And because this has been the energy for Perfume’s music videos over the past decade, as a result all of them end up feeling the same. “Moon”, “Flow”, “Polygon Wave”, “Time Warp”, “Future Pop”, “If You Wanna”, “Everyday” - they are all basically the same type of video. No shift in energy. No shift in tone. Nothing really happening.

The concept of the stage in “Moon” becoming a sort of Armillary Sphere is really cool. But it came so late in the video and then nothing was done with it. It was also an easy chance to actually introduce a sphere (because we know Perfume love a sphere) and have it represent the moon. But, nope. The play on light and dark could have been cool, if it wasn’t all jump cuts between the two. Having the lighting change the entire scene from light to dark in real time, and having shadows be cast and manipulated as Perfume are dancing could have created something really striking visually, given how big the platform was that they were on - similar to what we got for the “System Reboot” intro at Perfume Live: Polygon Wave. But, nope.

Having more than one setup also would have been nice. Go camp and have Perfume in space, in astronaut suits. Have Perfume actually dancing on the moon; with their moves being at normal speed, but the dust and everything around them being low gravity and in slow motion. Drop an Easter egg of Perfume coming across their Cosmic Explorer selves. Re-enact the moon falling from Majora’s Mask. Bitch. ANYTHING more than Perfume dancing on a giant microwave plate with nothing really happening.

Perfume - Moon | Universal Music

Perfume’s team are too creative to be phoning in these music videos and giving us the most basic concepts which do absolutely nothing for the songs. The sets are super clean. The visuals are super crisp. The VFX is slick. There are always a couple of great shots. But nothing about Perfume’s music videos is memorable any more, and they have so little rewatch / replay value.

Perfume are a visual group. And yet in a day an age where YouTube is huge and such a key platform, where all music videos are debuted globally, and Perfume have the budgets; they are releasing music videos which do not showcase the level of creativity that they are known for and it’s unfortunate.

---

🎛️ Perfume megamixes: Cosmic Explorer | LEVEL3 | Game

🎛️ Perfume mashups: Beyoncé x Perfume | Whitney Houston x Perfume

💿 Perfume album reviews: Plasma | The Best “P Cubed” | Future Pop | Cosmic Explorer | LEVEL3 | JPN | Triangle | Game | Complete Best