Utadah Hikaru!

[chestnutflowers]

Thanks, Lena-chan! I'll go check those and maybe she'll finally click with me.

[Orenji]

So the new album is out, and it's amazing (I loved Fantôme which was criticised by some, though). It's giving me real ULTRA BLUE vibes, which is always a good thing. The theme song for Kingdom Hearts 3 is a masterpiece.

[deadgrandma]

It's boring but cute I suppose. Fantome 2.0

Not what I need in my life right now


Probably write a review after it settles

[gekokujyo]

Unfortunately the full album suffers from the Deep River syndrome for me - great singles but lacklustre album tracks. Struggling to remember most of the album tracks and the most memorable one is probably the coriander one and not for the right reasons.

Shame, because Play a love song and Hatsukoi are some of the best tunes she's ever written.

[Lena-chan]

Originally Posted by gekokujyo

Struggling to remember most of the album tracks and the most memorable one is probably the coriander one and not for the right reasons.

I feel the same
the one that is after forevermore is a good track though
and the whole album is slightly better than fantome
maybe next year she can pull out a good album
let's hope for it

[gekokujyo]

^ i actually thought Fantome was a super strong album.

Good Night from this new one is probably my favourite new track for now.

The collab with Jevon added nothing to the song. It could literally have been any rapper.

[Ringo~Bingo (ver. 2)]

"Good Night", "Nokoriga" and pretty much bin the rest tbh.

[Fauxie]

I like Hatsukoi, but it took time for me to warm to it. Not sure whether I prefer this or Fantome, but I think both are very decent albums. Everything she'll do here on out will be of at least a certain level of quality, I think, because she's just a very solid singer and songwriter, but neither album is a match for Ultra Blue. I'm far more likely to listen to either of her latest than the very dated first two albums though, which have the once upon a time killer singles. I found Hatsukoi to be quite emotive after a few listens.

[shirasagi]

I thought it was excellent! It does feel like a sequel to Fantôme, but that in my book is her best album by leaps and bounds, so that was not a disappointment to me. "Shittosarerubeki Jinsei" actually makes for a nice coda to the Fantôme songs, so I think she'll be moving on sonically.
Unless she doesn't and has entered her Ringo phase

Edit: who here speaks Japanese? On second thought, I do find the lyrics to be hugely important in Utada's music, perhaps I would enjoy Hatsukoi less purely on musical terms.

[deadgrandma]

Listen to the vinyl version of Hatsukoi, it's a proper remaster (to the point theres now live drums in parts) and sounds really nice. Not a big fan but I pick that as my go to.