The members of OfficialHigeDandism have been treating their heartfelt funk-pop as a vehicle for immense feelings of joy since the band formed in Shimane, Japan, in the early 2010s. On their second mini album, Report, the scale of their music finally matches their outsized emotions. Opening track “Hajimari No Asa” signals the beginning of a more ambitious HigeDan. Marching drums cue in gallant pianos and bold guitars, all embodying the confidence expressed by the ascending vocals of Satoshi Fujihara, whose operatic volume competes with the likes of Mrs. Green Apple’s Motoki Ohmori. As if the gleaming sounds in these songs didn’t already make it clear, optimism ultimately wins out. Fujihara’s positive outlook is tinged with moments of struggle. The brightness radiating from the piano and horns covers up the rather bleak encounters with the failure and criticism he explores in the extensive life-as-performance metaphor behind “Itan Na Star”. But these downtrodden moments serve as part of the path to better days, with the band’s cheerful music popping off like a big celebration for toughing it out. Fujihara is relieved he can finally let off steam on a night out, riding the wave of a glamorous disco tune on “Fifty Five” as well as a blast of exuberant rock on “Rolling”. When Fujihara is given liberty to dedicate songs to pure love, it makes for songs that are undeniably works of HigeDan. It’s impressive enough to hear him contemplate a metaphor as extensively as he does in love-as-mathematics in “Equal”, but he also pulls in listeners with his wholesome sincerity and hopelessly romantic lyrics, like the bickering about cats or dogs in “Inuka Catka De Shinumade Kenkashiyou!” As HigeDan scales up its music on Report, Fujihara figures out what he writes about best.