Review Summary: Enter the Slaytrix.
How often can you genuinely use the words ‘new’ and ‘exciting’ to describe a group without sounding like a lazy marketing cliche? Rarely are those adjectives fully justified, but self-styled ‘inter-dimensional dream agents’
f5ve’s channeling of J-popisms into fervent PC Music adoration seems to have hit upon a winning formula straight out the gate on debut album
Sequence 01, exuding a confidence rarely seen in a fledgling group - even when its members' industry veteran status is taken into consideration. That’s not to say the more ‘alternative’ side of the J-pop scene hasn’t already been embracing similar sounds over the last couple of years - groups like
pinponpanpon and
Pas Tasta have both seen moderate success experimenting with the more abrasive and quirky influences innate to the hyperpop ‘movement’, but the uncanny bubblegum aesthetic of early innovators like
A.G Cook are where
f5ve really make their presence known.
It should come as no surprise then that the two biggest highlights here (of which there are many) feature production from
Cook himself.
Magic Clock is perhaps the biggest earworm of the year, with an effortlessly infectious and bubbly chorus and whose short runtime lends itself to a near-infinite replayability, whereas
UFO goes all in on a deadpan verse into anthemic chorus structure, resolving it’s detuned and erratic sound palette into blissful harmony-as-payoff in typical PC Music fashion. Cook isn’t alone in terms of recognisable talent behind the scenes, with executive producer
BloodPop (known for his work with heavyweights such as
Justin Bieber and
Lady Gaga) assembling a venerable smorgasbord of who’s who in alternative pop and pop-leaning electronic music, with
Hudson Mohawke,
Count Baldor and
Ö amongst those contributing. This versatility in producers also brings versatility in sound, like the trap-pop of the
Kesha-featuring
Sugar Free Venom,
Underground’s relentless UK hardcore beat, or closer
Real Girl’s
Yoasobi-esque pop rock anime-outro aspirations, all executed with a finesse beyond prior expectations.
Considering the group’s makeup features a member several years the others’ junior, and three members who, up until this point, had never taken on significant vocal duties in their previous activities,.the pressure of the spotlight seems to have had little effect at all on the level of performances here, which are routinely excellent. A more cynical J-pop listener may bemoan what is fairly blatantly an attempt to appeal directly to the discerning and very online Western pop aficionado subculture, which an expertly curated online presence does little to dissuade the notion of, but beneath the stan twitter memes and viral TikTok dances lies a real determination to authentically represent both where they come from and where they want to be - which if
Sequence 01 is anything to go by is only trending upwards.
