Considering there is no promo it’s quite good ! I really hope in a near future someone will offer her a big tie-in... I’ve the feeling we are so near of a little bounce back in her carrer but for that she needs something that can attract audience attention at a big scale. It would be amazing if she can do that in her fourty for a japanese woman.

btw the song is in my head since yesterday ahah

I think other than a tie-in, if she released a song that ended up going viral because of TikTok, that could be a very interesting way of 'promo', but there's no way to really plan for that sadly. At the moment for example, a song from a year ago, Kousui by Eito is HUGE right now because of TikTok and doesn't seem to be slowing down.

We could do a Stream Party on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube (Maybe AWA as well) to help her digital performance or something, what do you guys think?

AMAZING ACHIEVEMENT
Let's ride this wave Ayu!

I think they could try. The stuff that seems to go viral are things that are fitting for a type of reaction. Like “when something crazy happens, x song plays” “when something unexpected happens, x song plays” - tying a song to a relatable moment that is experienced across a wide range of scenarios. If I had the energy to post examples i would (but I’m thinking more so memes than tik tok). Right now she’s doing the tired old concert dances on tiktok. Interesting for fans but stiff and not exhilarating for the general tiktok-er.

idk if I'm the only one but while I would like the song I feel like it's very flat, everything sounds so stacked and same volume that it just kinda blends into noise? I had the same issue with the TROUBLE EP but not with Ohia No Ki since that one's production is way less busy. Like for the first verse I was totally on board and then the chorus kicked in and I was just like a bit turned off :/

The chorus of the song is not very pleasant to listen to. The voice is too harsh. Everything else is perfect.

I felt the same. I was listening with high end headphones yesterday, the FLAC version too, and it felt hollow. Wish there was more separation between layers, or a greater range of separation. It would make the track more dynamic.

I think there is a tendency to go a bit bombastic for these kinds of Komuro compositions when they have these types of arrangements as well. Songs like sending mail come to mind. To me, it seemed like they were trying to have the two sides of the song fight which can result in that kind of blending, with the electronic and the piano+strings competing. It's probably very hard to balance for whoever is arranging it as well since there's so many elements in this song especially.

On TROUBLE, I imagine it would have been a thing for W or We are the QUEENS mainly but here it seems like there's even more pieces to the arrangement to manage than those songs.

I think this song will be much better when performed live with full band and strings/orchestra. I can already imagine it

That's exactly how I feel and why I find it lackluster and missing something. The arrangement just blends into noise and is kinda annoying. It's as if different layers do not even exist. Especially the chorus is lacking that special something.
And honestly, the strings annoy me, too. It doesn't fit the song. The song could have been so good. Lyrics, melody, vocals, all great. But the arrangement is such a disappointment for me.

Lol! And I think there are many others haha.

Thoughts on this post written by a J-pop critic? https://randomjpop.blogspot.com/2020...d-a-dream.html

^
This one too
https://img.discogs.com/wxmgcItXEwqH...-5152.jpeg.jpg

Reads like someone trying way too hard to be sassy.:dead2 It’s their opinion though, so not much else to say about it.

Total BS. This song is nothing like the old ones. It stands out in so many ways.

He/she's always harsh and ultra-biased towards Ayumi, and puts Namie (which , as expected, she dropped her name on that entry) and Utada in a pedestal, so I didn't expect this person to like this song. I mean, even in Arama where users are usually very critical to Ayu, this song has been very well received.

That person isn't really a critic, I think they're just a sassy J-pop fan. Basically like the person who ran BitchesAloud before or whatever that blog was.

I've seen nothing but praise for the song though in the J-pop circles that normally never talk about Ayu so that's saying something. Twitter also seems to have a lot of Japanese people saying that the song is addictive not just the Ayu fans.

Yea, you can't really call them a critic.

I agree with you... Although to be honest, this had been the case with her for a long long long time. Even classics like ''Evolution'' also have that issue. Maybe those kind of mix were fine for 20 years ago but today, compared to modern standards it does sound a bit flat. Sure she had some exceptions (like Colours) but most of her mixes seems to have this treatment. When I shopped my new speakers last year i brought A One and I am as albums test and the sound guy thoughth they were both albums from the 90's.