if she wants to re-invent her career like Namie Amuro then she needs to be a sell-out. I'm a casual listener of Amuro but she bores me... her recent albums are exactly what's trendy in the western market; EDM (not in the vein of Colours, but more Calvin Harris, Avicii kind of sound), and that's why the Japanese eat it up. cos suddenly Namie Amuro is relevant, cool, being 'American'. it's a visual and idea the younger generation might want to be identified with.

Ayu, on the other hand, takes forever to follow trends. Colours might be described as an EDM album but the only song that truly sounds like something that could be released in 2014 is Terminal. every other song is dated. don't get me wrong, I adore the album to bits cos it's so casual and catchy, but it's a fact the sound is dated.

that's her double-edged sword. she doe sthe "Ayu" thing by keeping songs old-school J-Pop with her own twist (usually a trend that has already faded for more than 2 years). Ayu will always be interesting, but is she relevant? is she the embodiment of western music like Namie Amuro? no.

she's also no longer young by Japanese standards and she's way too high-maintenance for intimate moments like AKB48's fan meets. of course there's only one of her and 48 of them, but you get my point.

she, however, with her time in LA, picked up on certain things the singers in the west do. she's already pulling off a Taylor Swift marketing tactic by posting photos of her "work in progress" online. wouldn't be surprised if she took a pic of one of the songs' lyrics and post it on Facebook or something.

all she has now, is her dwindling fan base. i think her best bet is to whet their appetites until they will buy an actual physical copy.

until that day she no longer does dated albums like LOVE again in this era, she's always going to have worse sales. i don't see that as a bad thing, but that's just how Ayu does her recent music. still hum along to Wake me up but it's a stale 2008-esque electro-pop/rock style :P

See, I thought Colours was way to western, lol. I felt like it was something that would be on the radio right now.

From ayu's official fb

"There will be exciting news tmrw♡

明日はまたひとつ、新しいお知らせがあるよよよん♡

Photo location, Los Angeles"

Maybe the single covers?

album! album!!

Ayu is keeping me on the edge of my seat! Getting excited!

A new studio album would be the best ever Christmas present! But I won't put my hopes so high.

It's not an album...and I'm not sure why she would consider the covers big news...unless she really is trying hard to do self promotion. It's probably not about CDL. Hmm...I wonder what it could be.

I'm so curious right now. Hmm..I was thinking of something:

1999 - A Song For xx - LOVEppears

Every four year she releases 2 studio albums:
2002 - I am../RAINBOW
2006 - (miss)understood - Secret
2010 - RnRc - Love Songs
2014 - Colours - ?

So it can be true

But do you really think that she (or avex, for that matter) even knows that that occurred? I think something like that is purely coincidence.

True, it may be purely coincidence. We'll see tommorow. Maybe she's just releasing the covers.

I guess anything is possible! I just feel like an album is unlikely. But who knows

Lol why would they announce an album when the new single was JUST announced and will be released in 6 weeks? ESPECIALLY when this single comes with little incentive for purchase. I mean, that's just nonsense.

Ayu is keeping me so excited!! I love that she takes control of her FB account, like Namie has someone to write everything and Ayu is doing it herself ^_^

What zeke said.

I bet it's about global TA!

A world tour is coming... or at least, a new tour to be announced.

What else can be? A new album doesn't make sense, and we already know about next countdown... ummm.. please, please...

WORLD TOUUUUUUUUUR!!! :love:luv2:luv2:luv2:love

I actually think Together When... has a very rock-ish sound to it with the guitar in the background. I think I'd call that a rock ballad sooner than I would call "fated" one.

Fated is a great song... <3 I totally forgot about it until recently.

I think Together When... Is about as rock as Lelio.

I hate it when she teases stuff like this. I couldn't sleep as soundly the night before she was to announce the details of the new single.

The suprise is that she will be included in a tribute to utada hikaru!!! Damn!!!

^ you beat me to it ahah, but got the link down for you guys
I don't know if it's related to what ayu said but could be this...
http://natalie.mu/music/news/130923

ayu covering an Hikki song for her homage cover album "Hikaru Utada no Uta"