Himitsu Studio is the sound of four master craftsmen delivering a sound that had taken decades of experience to refine. After more than 30 years of record-making, the Spitz you hear on these tracks is four men who know who they are—where they’ve been, where they’re going, and how to play to their considerable strengths. In the mid-’90s, Spitz became one of the biggest pop-rock bands in Japan by perfecting an amalgam of alt-rock and melodic power pop with a generous dollop of jangle. That winning combination was still in place in 2023, as were all of the band’s original members. But what they turn out on Himitsu Studio is inevitably a more mature offering, in the best possible sense. It’s tough to imagine a bunch of scrappy youths who still have something to prove to the world being able to create the kind of carefully nuanced, gravitas-laden sounds that spill out of this album everywhere. Incredibly, frontman Masamune Kusano’s voice still rings out as clean and clear as it did when he was in his twenties. But his delivery also bears the kind of emotional heft that only the years can allow. And his Spitz comrades echo that effect in their playing. They trot out some raucous alt-rock riffs on “Tobe,” showing that they can still convincingly lean in that direction anytime they want to. But most of Himitsu Studio sands off those rough edges in favor of sophisticated yet unfailingly successful melodic constructions. Highlights include the bouncy R&B feel of “Beautiful Fin,” complete with horn stabs and soul falsetto, and the driving, funky “Mirai Mirai,” a cut clearly designed for the dance floor. Spitz closes out the album by revving things up one more time with the racing rocker “Megurimegutte,” doling out one last dose of alt-rock flavor for the longtime faithful. But by this point in its career, the fast-and-loud route represents just one of many colors in the paint box of a band with no end of options at its fingertips.