The pictures of Ayu and Tomoya in Los Angeles were considered shocked because they appeared >>shock<< HOLDING HANDS! No, I'm not even kidding, the morning gossip news show hosts were all talking about how they are not even ashamed to hold hands in public (uncommon among japanese, mostly the famous ones) and how that's a shocking behaviour and they're acting like a "gaijin couple".
Here are some screencaps from the morning TV show:
(OMG! They're holding hand)
And according to the japanese media, the reason Ayu is in LA for the last few weeks was to finish her next CD (photoshoots and songs) and that's the reason why she hasn't been seen much lately. So yes, I guess we can expect an album.
source:
http://uwasabr.up.md/viewtopic.php?p=226#226