[Utada Hikaru] ʕ•̫͡•ʔ Upcoming 2018 Album and Tour in the 57th thread ʕ•̫͡•ʔ

[aliceshields]

At first I not really into Boku wa Kuma, but as years gone and now I kind of like it.. ^^

Hmmmm compare to Fantôme, I more like Hatsukoi.

[bluegie]

Hikki thought the beats were normal to her, so she was surprised that people got confused by the beats of the song.

Originally Posted by Maemi

There is one song on new album that reminds me of that awful Kuma song... I can't stand it.

Surprisingly I accept (and love) this song so fast, much quicker than Boku wa Kuma. Maybe because I like cooking...? lol.

Pakuchii, pakupaku...
ooooo...
pakupaku pakuchii...

[Cahz-]

Originally Posted by bluegie

Hikki thought the beats were normal to her, so she was surprised that people got confused by the beats of the song.

I would like to read that interview

[koumori]

Originally Posted by Cahz-

I would like to read that interview

posted a few pages ago

Originally Posted by ahtka-chan

I love those weird chants/backing vocals near the end of Play A Love Song. But that's the only thing I like in that song. I could've lived without this song.

Some interesting facts about the songs in the album, according to Hikki herself:
- “Chikai”: Utada received an offer to write the theme song for Kingdom Hearts III not long after releasing “Fantôme”. While Utada initially thought she was on-empty post-Fantôme, she was surprised at how easily ideas came bubbling up. “Chikai,” “Oozora,” “Forevermore” and “Anata” were all written during this creative spurt. famed drummer Chris Dave and “Chikai”: Upon the theme song trailer release for KH3, Utada heard reaction saying “I don’t understand the rhythm” and “what kind of beat is this?” Made Utada realize that something which seemed like a very simple + normal groove line for her wasn’t necessarily heard that way by others. Feels like if Chris Dave hadn’t been involved, the song would not have have succeeded since the beat was so tricky and nuanced

- “Pakuchii no Uta”: Utada had been stewing on it for around 10 years. She believes it was written around the same time as her iconic “Boku wa Kuma”

- “Yuunagi”: The song was originally to be included on Fantôme but Utada wasn’t happy with the writing. Debated whether or not to omit on “Hatsukoi” as well. Utada took herself back to the mindset of “Ningyo” in order to complete the track. “Yuunagi” contains allusions to the sea, and she considers it as a sequel of sorts to “Ningyo”.

- “Shitto saserubeki jinsei”: Because the track came out with such scale and weight, Utada wanted to write lyrics about a “Supreme Love”. Utada considers it a personal yet fictitious sort of novel. When thinking about a “Supreme Love,” she landed on the idea of a love that ends in death

- “Nokoriga”: Utada struggled a lot with the lyrics, so much so that she thought of giving up on Japanese and writing it in English. The breakthrough came when she thought of the line “kata wo sagasu” (For your warm shoulder, I search) whilst taking a bath

- Overall, Utada considers this to be an album about beginnings and endings. She thinks it carries a different sort of weight than Fantôme, but thinks it’s her most power-filled album yet

From: Ublog

[Cahz-]

Originally Posted by Koumori

posted a few pages ago

thanks

[Xianghua]

I hadn't listened to Forevermore before I heard it on Hatsukoi so not sure if this was brought up before, but the beginning of Forevermore makes me think of Prisoner of Love. I don't know how to explain it.

[axmish87]

To me Forevermore sounds as that song on Mika Nakashima's album TOUGH Missing You

[Baco__]

What are you guys talking? Wrong beat? lol I can't hear anything wrong at all. In fact it's my favorite song hahaha

[amorphose]

Originally Posted by Baco__

What are you guys talking? Wrong beat? lol I can't hear anything wrong at all. In fact it's my favorite song hahaha

For me, it was only the beginning part before she starts singing. I don't know musical terminology so it is hard to explain. Utada herself mentioned it in one of the album interviews. U.Blog posted translations.

[summerain]

It's a 3/4 tempo song. I'm not an expert, but in music we have a lot of tempos (ayu's Humming 7/4 uses a rare tempo, for example, the one in the title) that define the rhythm of the song.

Sometimes, an artist uses some tempo to deliberately deliver a feeling or create an atmosphere. Sometimes it's cheerfulness, sadness or even discomfort.

[bluegie]

Originally Posted by amorphose

For me, it was only the beginning part before she starts singing. I don't know musical terminology so it is hard to explain. Utada herself mentioned it in one of the album interviews. U.Blog posted translations.

Oh... Weird, I don't find the melody confusing (and I'm definitely not a music expert). I always thought people were talking about the part @ 2:38.

__________________________________________________ __________________


初恋 @ Oricon album daily chart:

2018.06.26 - No. 1 - 78,948 copies
2018.06.27 - No. 1 - 50,814 copies
2018.06.28 - No. 1 - 21,427 copies
2018.06.29 - No. 1 - 12,460 copies
2018.06.30 - No. 1 - 17,753 copies
2018.07.01 - No. 1 - 20,923 copies (total: 202,325 copies)

Oricon said she sold about 204K on the first week .



Fantome's comparison:
Day 1: 87,088
Day 2: 49,728
Day 3: 27,782
Day 4: 25,038
Day 5: 28,889
Day 6: 32,065 (total: 250,590 copies)

[Katsuyuki012]

Nice that she crossed 200k. Really love the album.

[RealLight]

I really hope she can hit the 500k mark in a long run

[ayu-fan]

So after listening to whole album I just realized Utada should do more songs with her lower register voice, I really like pachinko no uta and the last song. Hatsukoi sounds majestic but kinda irritated by her screechy high notes. Overall a nice album, I kinda understand people who thought it’s boring, some songs sounds similar (the beginning of hatsukoi and play me a love song reff basically the same thing, and many songs using the similar melody).

[bluegie]

I think she sang Hatsukoi with that screechy high notes on purpose. She should have ability to sing that part smoother, but I kinda guess that she chose to sang in that way to give a rawer feeling.

Since everyone's talking about the confusing beats of Chikai (3/4 tempo taught by summerain), I decided to listen to the song again, then I recognized it's the "bom-cha-cha" beat lol. Then I got hooked up by the song, which I didn't really like in the beginning haha.

____________________________________________

初恋 @ Oricon album daily chart:

2018.07.02 - No. 1 - 8,155 copies

[Andrenekoi]

I agree with Bluegie that she most likely sang higher in order to get a rawer feeling, but I also wish she would go with her lower register more often than she goes with her higher.

[summerain]

When I listened to Hatsukoi chorus for the first time, I thought the same, it's really high. But after reading the translation and paying attention to her interpretation, I started to love it. It conveys a lot of feelings about falling in love for the first time, like a vocal representation of "so in love that it hurts".

Oh, about the "she could sing in her lower register", there's a third vote here. Her lower notes are really beautiful and sound more natural then her higher register.

UPDATE: I read somewhere "Anata" got platinum. Is it true?

[bluegie]

初恋 @ Oricon album daily chart:

2018.07.02 - No. 1 - 8,155 copies
2018.07.03 - No. 3 - 8,790 copies
2018.07.04 - No. 2 - 7,806 copies (est. total: 24,751 copies)

I think she'll be weekly no. 2 this week, unless the current no. 1 disappear from the top 10 tomorrow (they currently sell over 40K).

[amorphose]

I may or may not have ordered a second copy...

[bluegie]

Why??? lol


初恋 @ Oricon album daily chart:

2018.07.02 - No. 1 - 8,155 copies
2018.07.03 - No. 3 - 8,790 copies
2018.07.04 - No. 2 - 7,806 copies
2018.07.05 - No. 1 - 4,195 copies (est. total: 28,946 copies)

I hope it can break into 400K by the end...