Ha! I was right in guessing the title of the last song xD

is it just me or the instagram live doesn't have any sound at all?

The story had sound at first but if I tried to skip ahead, no sound. I believe she posted parts of the performance on her Instagram page.

What is WORDS about?

Full performance:

I agree with you!

Actually in another light,

The last part, matched with the seemingly positive song vibes, actually makes me feel like, she is acknowledging her haters and really its just a nicer way to tell them, "Oh since since u are tired of me now, you really just f off and not feel anything. I don't need your pity. But if you do believe in me still, then let's head on together."

It sounds like she WANTS to walk on. She wants to continue with people who cares. And haters who constantly find fault with her, about her voice, her body, her age whatsoever, she seems to be telling them, to just go. Spare her those seemingly pitiful comments which are really just there to bring her down. Leave and don't look back on her anymore.

Hm, sorry, but with the way it's worded plus the hopeful melody I don't think she's speaking with haters, on the contrary.
If it is about her at all.
It is in line with what she said in interviews, that she wants to go on unless it's not possible anymore, cause it's all what she is. It's her decision and I respect that, but I don't have to agree with it or like it. I'm pretty sure she could find somethin else that resonates with her or doing it in another way.

Actually saying that, I think she probably means that. Her fans, people near to her, who follow her, cherish her, but don't agree with how she's handling it.
Tho wording it like she did is pretty dramatic.

Can somebody check if there was any update to her spotify/apple music accounts?

EDIT: they uploaded another demo to AWA at least

Wanna hear the studio version of The way I am

If she will be forced to retire anyway, what difference does it make for anyone but her if she does so now or when she is completely dead? She will still have to give up her passion.

What if doing so while still being able to hear, and worst, losing that hearing anyway even if not performing, hurts her far more than going on until the end?

short version of new song

AX_WAT_516 SMZ-ATS_arr#3 (Rough mix)
https://yadi.sk/d/HzHXUSUJ3Zgpfj

She sounds really bad and this isn’t even live...Why oh why would she decide to sing anything this way.

well it's a rough mix

It's clearly not the final version yet.

It does sound really really rough. Hopefully the final version has less yelling and screaming.

The song sounds so basic, nothing exciting for me unfortunately.

haha I don't know how to explain this exactly but I think this is what she would sound on stage if she has full control of her vocals. she sounds so raw, but not off-pitch (to me).

same, it's decent, but not exciting. definitely not "SINGLE QUALITY" (does she even know what this phrase means, anymore? she hasn't released a single in so long now :laugh)

Thank you! I don't mind her vocals. If she's screaming just to scream, I hate it. But if she's screaming with emotion, which is what it sounds like here, I love it. Looking forward to the final mix!

I wonder if Yongae got in trouble for the song title thing cause it got edited to just 'new song' now.

What was the actual title?

"The way I am" is the title of the song she sang at LINE LIVE/Insta Live but it's not public yet what the songs are titled even though everything has a title already.

I don’t think they’ve ever been this secretive in regards to the titles...

Well, it's also weird since they have a lot of titles in plain sight in that deluxe box image. I think part of it is they're doing the weird AX_initials streaming thing to keep things mysterious for whatever reason.

The line live recording sounded so good. I wish there was an acappella version of this song included as a bonus on the album. It suits it so well!

It kinda worried me when she teased it on Instagram. Her voice sounds very much like her live vocals when she's letting the emotions take over, and end up shouting the lyrics...I just wished it was smoother for a song like that, less ups n downs. I mean, this song honestly sounds a little like Replace in terms of chorus vibe but the vocals really make a difference

but this mix is really basic layering of her vocals on top of the instrumental, without proper mixing etc. but I think her vocal track is pretty much fixed.

====

anyone feels like she is now SUPER CAREFUL when she sings and it somehow takes away a lot of the carefree and easiness she used to have. I was watching her old lives because Facebook pages share them almost every other day and there was something so easy when she sang and performed. Now she has to make sure she hits every note, exude every emotion...dont get me wrong, she sounds good esp in Yesterdya's acapella live, but she is becoming a technical singer than singer who sings the emotions that come forth naturally. Now she turns to being dramatic in her performances with lots of flailing.

All i dream is that she realizes, she can totally do an acoustic concert, and she can go super minimalist and I think she will sound so good and super real.

====

anyone has the romanji lyrics for The way i am's chorus?

^ I totally agree. I’d like the studio versions to sound well polished.

Btw according to an insta post https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl1hJFul...=1gqr8wk1j4s7c W isn’t the rock song...He could be wrong though.

Probably no way for anyone to know till a random leak like Yongae's post or the actual tracklist coming and Ayu categorizing them.

I KNOW! I think she was so careful that she even count her vibrato in every last note.

And what frustrate me more is she kinda forget how to sing care-freely like what she did in the past. I think it get worsen since that Timmy guy came into her team :no

I get the impression she’s lost confidence in herself/her brand?

Either that or, somehow she was able to fake confidence way back when.

Either way, she looks far less comfortable on stage now (unless she’s at her own shows)

It might have to do with her continued hearing loss. If she's having more trouble with that now than years back when it wasn't as bad, she probably wants to be more careful with her singing techniques. She might be struggling to adapt her singing to her worsening hearing and this might be why she doesn't seem as confident as before. Some people want more emotion from her and other people want her to focus on singing well, and it might be harder for her to achieve both at the same time now.

Don't understand why tracklist is still a secret

We can be pretty sure it's:
01. We are the QUEENS
02. æterna(l)
03. WORDS
04. W
05. The way I am

Well ... when we see the amount of criticism she has to face whenever she make a TV live it’s easy to understand why she is not comfortable now... When I checked the last FNS it was pretty visible that she didn’t know how to act.
Dealing with hearing loss definitely had consequences on the way she view herself as a singer sadly.

Yeah I totally would understand why she might feel uncomfortable
She got criticized even when she volunteered with the earthquake.

Unfortunately she’s really become the Nakamori Akina of her peers.
(She never really bounced back from her scandals - which was a set up -

What the Japanese media did to that poor woman is terrible. But, I’m off topic haha.

maybe we can do something to support her? campaign at twitter for release date

I think it’s also what happens when you you become the symbol of a decade ... Akina and Ayu saturated the market at some point so ...

That whould be cool. Something to cheer her up^^

The cheering campain is a really good idea ! :D

Definitely! I'd be up for it as well!!! ^^

Her voice has changed to deeper over years. It is natural and normal.
Mariah Carey could not sing her old songs now. However, she changed some of her songs to hit her current voice in many of her lives. And her new songs are more suitable for her current voice.

Maybe something that we will never throw her away and the future is always bright, referring to The way I am lyrics
Maybe we could name it with Hashtag TheWayWeAre

Girl get shit on in public everytime she misses any note, social media is filled up with comments about her voice deterioration, is progressivelly getting more and more deaf and when she starts singing refrained and calculated and focused on hitting every single note "it must be Timmy's fault".

Ok...

^lol Some people are never satisfied (though they might not always be the same person).

I've read some of the comments on her FNS performance on youtube, and it's the same awful **** every time. "She's fat." "She looks like a prowrestler. lol" "She should wear something age-appropriate." "Namie is so thin, but she's so fat." "She should have retired in good style, like Namie." "Why did she put her chin on the dancers hand? That's disgusting."
I don't know how much of that gets to her, but something to cheer her up would be nice.

On another note, I don't know if anyone brought it up, but could the hand on the LE of TROUBLE be the same as this?
https://twitter.com/ayu_19980408/sta...89030637015040

^
Yeah the comparison with Namie Amuro are tiresome...

I do not think so, this hand is more probably one of her best friends, you can see that this is a feminine hand with long nails.

Looks like a male hand to me, though. Compare it to her hand. And guitar players, for example, happen to grow their nails longer.
Though there was never any proper announcement and the post is a year old now, so I don't know what she wanted to tell us. If anything.

^when did she get divorced from that doctor-guy?

They separated in 2016, not sure if the divorce is finalized by now though.

I don't see lack of confidence in her recent TV lives, especially considering they were not broadcast live, so she could try again if she failed. She was nervous on LINE LIVE though, because she wanted to nail it.
As for haters' messages, she already replied on Twitter "don't make me laugh" and let's not forget about "WARNING". I don't think she's sad or something these days.

What the hell, people...

I could see her overflowing emotions during LINE LIVE, she was nervous but really devoted to that.

I don't think she looks confortable during the FNS live

While agree that age generally does give women deeper voices, I actually think that Ayu's natural voice was a bit deeper to begin with. It was her super high head voice at the beginning of her career that was unnatural. If you go all the way back to her Idol on Stage lives or some of the songs on Nothing from Nothing, her natural tone seems to sit a lot easier in lower notes. It was just the thing at the time in Jpop that everyone needed to be singing unnaturally high for their ranges (ahem, Globe etc.).

Ohhh this is a cool idea!!

Next up, Ayu posts her cucumber and tofu salads and drops 10 lbs.

Internet: We miss her pigging out!
https://image.ibb.co/nDymeT/483036_3...29857210_n.jpg

She sounds awesome in this, and the way they did it is so cool too!

You know, that's one thing that Japan annoys me with - being horribly judgmental.... And the constant putting Ayu against Namie is so.... old now. They clearly are brought up on the being like everyone else basis, following the rules etc., so i guess that makes sense, but i mean the world including JAPAN is not in mid 50s anymore....

It's not like people in the west are much better and judge celebrities much less :shrug

I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that the hate on the internet for Ayu has something to do with Japanese culture. Britney for example gets similiar hate posts since basically 15 years now.
I think the answer to why those people make those comments, that are mostly about their bodies and per se horrible voices is simple: they are women. The world has a lot of hate for every female who dares to not look as fuckable as she could and furthermore people want from both that they sing with a voice that isn't their natural tone at all but makes them sound more like young girls, so that's basically the first reason again. Since somehow only women who look and sound like girls are fuckable and therefor worth noticing and allowed to take up space, but not women who passed 30 and dare to be almost 40.
This is a culture we all grew up with. People here constantly also comment on how she looked bloated, fat in a paticular dress or whatever. Even though they are not directly bashing her and don't want to be mean or something, it's part of a culture in which it's totally fair game to analyse women's bodies and to comment on them. We honestly don't need to wonder, that if we think we have the right to analyse Ayu's body and to comment on it, that people who don't like her basically do the same, only without trying to be understanding like members here try to be.
Personally I think we should stop commenting on how her body looks. Because everytime we say she looks hot, we still judge her and automatically "save" this version we like in our brains and need to find an explanation when she doesn't look as we expect her to look. There is no "positive" judgement of women's bodies, because when we judge that this woman is hot we automatically set a standard women have to fulfill.And then the discussions about Ayu having her period or using fillers start.

(Edit: I don't think saying something like "she looks good" or "she looks sexy" is automatically the same as saying "she looks hot". Looking good or sexy can mean a lot of things, whereas there are no two ways of looking hot within celebrity culture and I think there are a lot of damaging iimplications which "looking hot" has for women, because it's way more about physical appearance than about different things like overall style, charisma and so on.)

The way I am sounded so nice! It was really cool of Ayu and her team to present the song this way with a cool a cappella version. And the song itself -- Ayu's ear for melody stays on point: I find this song's melody so pretty, natural, tinged with bittersweetness. I get some untitled ~for her~ / untitled for her... story two vibes. I hope the song gets some gorgeous production on the EP (haven't listened to the concert recording yet to get a feeling of the arrangement).

Long live queen of midtempo.

@rainbow_smile , Chibi-chan :
Japanese DO have a bit of a problem though with that sort of stuff. None really says "Britney should retire, she's old, she's a thing of the past" or anything about her "scandals" that happened a while ago over and over again. People tend to forget and move on, but Japan doesn't seem to. I dunno. When it comes to bodies it's probably the same as in the west, but i've had friends who had to deal with this bullshit IRL in Japan, and they are NOT celebrities...I dunno.
Ayu has great figure she always did, and she's a famous lady, so why would she need to dress like a 60 year old if she's not? She's a modern woman that has money in her hands, a business lady who's representing herself and her "product", so i don't see why she can't look like she does.
One thing i don't get is, why i don't hear the same crap about GACKT. That man is in his 40s wearing t-shirts and saggy crotch skinny pants, posing half nude for instagram pics and doing nothing really significant but Japanese don't seem to mind it, at least not that i have heard of anything lol So i sort of don't get this whole thing for Ayu...

^ I saw those kinds of comments for as long as I stanned Britney (which was up until maybe, like, 3 years ago). Obviously they became less frequent when she didn't have as many activities, but people really mocked her when she did have appearances at events/shows and stuff. People did say that she's a thing of the past, that she looks old now, that she gained too much weight, that her smile doesn't look natural, that she doesn't dance as well as she used to. People also constantly judged her for lip syncing all the time.

I'd say the only reason why negative comments about her aren't as prevalent these days is simply because she's irrelevant. Don't celebrities like Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez or Miley Cyrus get hate comments all the time? I've seen negative comments about Halsey too.

AHS members are sometimes just as judgemental about ayu as japanese netizens, and a lot of AHSers aren't from Japan

I guess i just never payed that much attention to stuff like that. And the fact that it gets brought up every time Ayu does something, just makes it far worse. though i dunno, i mean sure i've seen the crap on western part of the world, but it usually is buried by the positive stuff. Maybe the negative stuff around here just gets dragged out more than the comments of support by the Japanese folks online?

I suppose i just don't quite get it because i don't quite care about that stuff myself (looks and etc. of a celeb) unless it's something REALLY drastically different and out of the ordinary for the character of that person that they usually are in public.

I just don't understand why Japan takes certain things as the worst case, when it comes to celebrities. a lot of the stuff is rather tame and bland compared to what we sometimes see in the west. It's just kinda silly to me. I dunno....

Maybe it's not appropriate to say this, but I've really thought Ayu's fuller figure has been very pretty on her.

There were some pictures of her around that time where she looked like total hottie. <3

While I do think dating scandals are a bigger deal in Japan, on the other hand Taylor Swift was shamed for having too many boyfriends the same way ayu was shamed for having too many husbands haha

I personally notice that, at least for myself, I notice negative comments much more when I stan someone. And also in ayu's case, her fandom is much smaller these days, that's why negative comments are not buried :(

OH MY GOD I AM IN LOVE WITH THE SUNGLASSES IG VID TEASER!!!!!!!!!!!

i absolutely live for rock songs and i am so glad ayu isnt jumping on bandwagons and is releasing a song like this in 2018 when the rock scene is endangered.

anyway i am still very excited for the release! im not very used to japanese releases because ive been into kpop where everything has a formula so ayus weird ig teasers and messy spotify marketing is truly like a breath of fresh air to me :luv2

u got my attention and support ayuuuu :love

I'm loving the LINE LIVE performance. I'm actually super thrilled that THAT is what came out of her sessions with Tim back on the other IG video. And you can tell in these videos that Ayu has reconnected to something she hasn't felt in years. It's different from the MADE IN JAPAN/Winter diary/sixxxxxx/A ONE/Colours works.

These definitely sound like Ayu songs. I just wonder if their full cuts will be noticeably different from what she's done in the last several years. (I at least think there is something different here.)

Exactly!

How about "I love you #Thewayyouare" and then we say something we like about her? It can range from simple, playful things (because you look good in short hair) to serious matters (because your music saved my life).

:yes I remember back in the days when I first listened to or watched one of her Idol on Stage performances, preparing myself for an even higher, squeakier voice, only to be pleasently surprised by her deep voice.
She was always famous for having a singing voice completely different to her speaking voice.

lol
Just you wait. If she would get back to her past weight people will say that she looked much more healthy before.

I agree. "She's hot" is such a nonstatement. It basically boils down to physicality, like you said, and in general means "Would f***".

I also don't get the comments about dressing age-appropriate or wearing make-up appropriate for Japanese people (Gay Pride performance) when being on stage has its own rules. And we have the 21st century. There's no need for 40 year old women to dress like a granny.
GACKT is a man. Men age like fine wine. Gray hair, wrinkles - all of that makes men only more attractive. But women become old hags. That's the world we live in, basically.

Well... It depends on the day and the article haha

http://minuskakugo.blogspot.com/2015...ing-weird.html
http://minuskakugo.blogspot.com/2017...k-to-fans.html

I would just love to see what their stomachs look like. Once you are past certain age, depending on your job and lifestyle it gets harder and harder to keep your tummy in order!

I would like to see how looks people who always say that ayu is fat

Agree. And this squeaky voice is one of the first factors that damaged her voice. I can't listen to the remastered version of the A Best because it unveiled the pain of her vocal chords. I clearly hear the strain they bore. >.<

Same here! She looks healthy, happy, and extremely gorgeous.

Also, I only now had a chance to watch the LINE LIVE and her voice was so good there! :luv2

^I came across an old TV performance of, I think, SURREAL on youtube and though there were comments saying that they wished she would go back to that weight again, I actually thought, knowing how she looks now, she was too thin.
She admitted to not eating properly in the past, so I take her fuller self over not taking proper care of herself.

There is a misconception that thin means healthy, but there're a lot of thin people who don't live a healthy life and are thin because of a good metabolism or genes or something.

The woman looks good physically. She is just right. During the A SUMMER BEST era she was really unhealthy skinny. I would really like to know how those people who say that Ayu is fat look like? Like,they all have a six pack and adam's belt and are all ripped?
As if.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t it considered more or less acceptable to point out somebody’s weight in Japan?

When I first heard about a new album I was really happy and surprised, but then I got to know that it would be more like a mini album, and if We are the Queens and WODS are on it, kind of dissapointed because obviously I wanted a lot of new songs. Even so, the gists we got so far sound promising and it might become a solid release. I wonder if it’s going to be LOVE again, again, but the new tour is called TROUBLE, so I really wonder if there is going to be a part 2 and then a combined plus release (with another tour later?). Hard to guess.

ayu’s FNS lives was mostly splendid, I think ahe sang great in most of it and it was a really different experience than past tv performances. I think that ayu’s size was also quite normal and people exaggarate with the “fat” word too much. But it’s shouganai I suppose since people expect her to be super skinny... which she has no reason to be.

Imagine her next mini album called SE7EN with 7 tracks yet this album has 5 tracks only.

AHS would have another drama moments.

#Spillthetea

I am still holding out hope there's a surprise in all this. Doesn't make sense to have two jackets for the same content. Even if each version has a different hidden track, that would be a lot better.

Also, why is the tracklist a giant mystery anyway? Usually we are waiting for the covers but we got those pretty quickly.

Something is up.

Agreed, she looks great to me even when "bloated". She may not wear the most flattering outfits but her body is still gorgeous when fuller in my opinion. All the times that fans or antis called her fat are seriously pathetic to me. I don't think she has ever been overweight in her life. She goes up and down probably 15 lbs at the most but probably even less, it's just more noticeable because she is short and petite. Like people have said, who knows what meds she's on at the moment or maybe she just likes to eat an extra burger or chocolate now and then and her metabolism is slowing down as she ages? The woman is human.

I wouldn't mind at all if its just a mini album but hey, there's also the possibility that she pulls off a Team Rocket and goes "Here comes TROUBLE, and make it double!" and announce another release soon :laugh

This is so sad, but this is a worldwide problem. People like pick on body 'flaws' and physical appearance basically. And under the mask of 'freedom of speech', it is always more or less acceptable to just say whatever you want on someone elses appearance. If only the people who comment on such things, think before they post: 'what if somebody picked on me, because I gained - lost - have this condition - not feeling my best - whatever', I hope that prevents them from posting.

I am wandering a bit offtopic by this paragraph:
I love instagram, but my looks never hit a mark or whatever and I am not that interesting for insta-famous. In other words; I haven't had the experience of online negative or hate comments (even tho I have endured those for 10 years offline). But I follow mostly girls, and whether they are fit or 'proud to be curvy' it is never enough. You have to be either A or B. I follow a curvy girl, who sings about 'Thick Girls', mukbangs for entertainment and yet hits the gym, or has diets in order to stay healthy and people comment on her staying not true to her 'brand', because apparantly when you work out, you are not a proud curvy girl. A fit girl who I follow is being shamed of fake or plastic surgery.

It is a real shame that people have nothing else but bring others down by commenting on their physical appearance.
Online may be easier than in real life, to have the audicity so tell someone such things. Do these people know no shame? We all want ourselves to stop bullying in offline environments, but when it is ok to tell whoever what you think about his or her physical appearance online, the bullying will never stop.

As for Ayu, she looks great and she sung really well. I don't know what the standard is she has to meet, for me there is none. It is sad that people pick on those things, which should't be an issue. Hopefully she reads the sea of positive comments as well and don't pay attention to the weight comments.
It is ridiculous.

Ok I am done with my essay. I woke up early this morning, so I have rattled maybe too much haha.

ikr? When it was announced I was totally foreseeing a full-length called DOUBLE TROUBLE haha

Well... I wonder how this will go.

https://preview.ibb.co/e7SAae/IMG_6602.jpg

Release digitally 6th August

^I wonder why they always do that like it won'r affect physical sales :(

I think it could be to get a good headline? Like a million+ streams for the album in a week or something.

5 days till new album! Can't wait to hear the last song

Because they don't expect her to sell much anyways. Digital sales are a bonus. Ayu's been making more money from touring and that also explains why a 5-track release get's a tour. I am happy we're getting this sooner!

I think people who want to buy CD will buy it anyway. It's mostly like collectible item than useful

I feel 50/50. I'm happy the music is coming sooner but still wish these AWA releases weren't a thing. If I had pre-ordered this I would be pretty annoyed by this move.

I've pre-ordered the album just an hour before I got the email... not too thrilled about this move, but luckily I ordered the deluxe box set. Still something to look forward too ^^

I feel bad for those that pre-ordered a copy, especially the deluxe set. They spent all that money and then avex/Ayu turns around and says, "yeah we are just going to let everyone else have the new album for free and days before the official release".:shrug

I ordered the album because of the bluray concert set... its fine for me.... its going to be on the internet eventually.

Same here! Since it comes with a full concert on a blu ray, it doesn't bother me that much...

Yes!!! Can't wait to listen to the full thing.

The way they phrased it : ...such as Awa and Apple Music», does it mean it can also be available on Spotify and they were just too lazy to name it? lol I’m paying for Spotify and I would be sad if it wasnt available there! Considering the fact that they upload the mysterious demos there that would be surprising.

I hope so too but Spotify will get a delayed release

Same for me. Plus I don't have AWA or Apple Music subscriptions anyway

They should only release the music online one week after the physical release. So for people who are eager will boost up the sales

In the age of streaming and piracy, the album will be bought for those who would buy it anyway.