CHARISMA.COM - Aidoro C

In a year that has seen Japanese music express itself at high (if not excellent) levels on nearly every front, what was still missing was the great pop record — the one capable of ferrying the coordinates of a macro-genre like j-pop, now thoroughly adrift, toward new languages and possibilities of communication, venturing into territory beyond the ever more unchallenged dominion of tooth-decay ditties churned out by idol groups and everything orbiting around them. If on the indie level the current ferment does seem to signal a genuine awareness of the need for a change that can no longer be postponed, it's nonetheless at the top of the charts that this need must make itself felt, so that the conservative attitude typical of the majors of the Land of the Rising Sun can be given a real jolt. Having landed at Warner last year with the aggressive, more guitar-driven "OLest", Charisma.com are increasingly establishing themselves as one of the flagship acts promoting innovative aesthetics and expressive codes, backed by a personality and lyrical approach unique of their kind.

If many feared a possible flattening of compositional and thematic exploration (a fear that's anything but unfounded — just consider the expressive normalization of Yasuha Kominami, for instance), "Aidoro C", their second release under a major label, puts every doubt to rest, making clear that the urge to take risks, both lyrically and in purely musical terms, hasn't weakened in the slightest. It was, after all, rather unlikely that MC Itsuka and DJ Gonchi would compromise, given that their acid-tongued lyrics and a peculiar genre-blending attitude are exactly what has made them the cult duo they are. So, on the third short-album of their career (a format in which they manage to express themselves decidedly better than on the full-length), Charisma.com show no sign of slowing down, enriching their language with new shades.

Among the first to realize the need to coin a new popular code — one that draws its moves from hip-hop and urban music (Itsuka's supple, lightning-fast flow is the clearest proof of this), but then expands its potential through a rich arsenal of hooks, rhythmic patterns and timbral solutions — the two women have combined in a single project a complexity of vision, expressive tightness and an awful lot of fun, giving rise to a kind of political pop that stands as something close to a unicum in Japan. Across the eight tracks of the new record, the fundamental pillars of Itsuka and Gonchi's signature approach are pushed even further, resulting in the most abrasive, electronic record of their career, while at the same time delivering some of their most immediate and melodic songs ever. And the lyrics? There's plenty to celebrate on that front too.

"Subliminal Diet", accompanied by a video that inserts itself with real personality into the current accelerationist debate, tackles — with remarkable melodic ease (despite the forceful rap interjections) and unheard-of sarcasm — the Japanese public's worrying obsession with diet products, opting for an aggressive electro-house backing that doesn't shy away from the odd brilliant dubstep detour. And that's just the beginning: whereas in the past it was the working conditions of salarymen that were put in the stocks (Itsuka and Gonchi both worked as company employees), on "Aidoro C" the stances taken are broader and, if anything, more resolute. From the mockery of the customer service (supposedly the pride of the Japanese) in "GODcostumer", which even throws in a liberating "fuck off" over a bed of lopsided basslines and gritty r&b streaks, to "Jidoll" — perhaps the spiritual heir to that malevolent toy that was "Hate" — where Itsuka vents all her rage at the treatment reserved for female performers, all of them regarded as interchangeable idols. It's striking that this ends up being the lightest, most carefree track in terms of structure and arrangement, its backing track almost acting as a moody, unpredictable parody (note the sudden shift halfway through the track) of the breezy electro-pop of the acts overseen by Yasutaka Nakata.

And it's precisely Nakata who ought to study closely a track like "Honenuki Ni Koishite", in which one can glimpse a possible evolution of that electro-shibuya-kei style with which he launched his career a good 16 years ago, here bolstered by excellent synth-bass touches and a decidedly more natural flair for songwriting. Or else, he could take a look at the instrumental makeup of "Bell Sassa" and realize just how much his recent house-leaning output would have benefited from greater sonic polychromy (the guitars injecting vitality and a vague funky aroma into a backing track that delights in disguising its own danceability beneath sinuous interlockings of synth and programming).

Of course, it's not all smooth sailing. "Koshikake Rap", paradoxically the track least concerned with Itsuka's rapping, would have benefited considerably from a less monolithic, obsessive progression - though it still manages, through careful control of dynamics and rhythmic cut, to rework the third-world moombahton coined by M.I.A. and Diplo about a decade ago. A similar flaw, albeit to a lesser degree, seems to affect "Toushindai Gray": here the songwriting, despite the excellent execution, does little to lift the track - or its hard-dubstep openings - beyond a mere exercise in style. Even so, "Aidoro C" in no way marks the beginning of a decline for Charisma.com, who still sound vital and ready to claim an even bigger place within j-pop that actually matters. Compromise is simply not on the table, and for our part, we couldn't be happier about it.

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27/09/2016