Stamped: June 1st, 2007 | Related Posts
Tagged: Jmusic, Jpop, Utada Hikaru.

Hikaru Utada is one of the most influential and acclaimed musicians in the Japanese music industry.
That talented song writer was born in 1983 in New York from musician parents. This artistic background brought her to start her career at a very young age, writing her first album in English at the age of 13 (under the name Cubic U).

By the age of 15, her first album “First Love” is the most commercially successful debut and overall album by a Japanese artist in Japanese music history, having sold over 10 million copies throughout Asia, nearly 8 million copies sold in Japan alone.

I’m preparing a post about Ayumi Hamasaki, Hikki’s direct “rival” (I prefer Ayumi’s music). But this post might take a while since I’m planning to do a playlist based on her entire career, and not just one album. (Well I said I will try, I’m not sure I’ll succeed…)

This being said, today I will focus on her latest 2006 album “Ultra Blue”, her 7th album. She released beginning of 2007 a single named “Flavor of life” and it’s not bad either. Anyway, this latest album has a different style from the others, definitely less R&B. I’m not a big fan of the previous albums (Exodus -English album-, Deep river, Distance or First Love) maybe because I’m not into R&B. Anyway, here it is not about R&B at all. Check it out.

Here’s my pick:

1. Passion: My favorite song of the album. You’re really caught in it right away, broken rhythm, it’s really hypnotic. “Passion ” is the theme for the Japanese version of the Kingdom Hearts II video game.

2. Kairo: Mysterious intro. Her singing reminds me of Boa. The song takes its time to really start. But if you wait, it’s worth it, it’s really ethereal and soothing.

3. Blue: I love the intro singing. Hikaru really has an original sound. The chorus is really catchy.

4. Be my last: Beautiful. Some parts of the singing reminds me of Boa again… This song is the first single of the album. It’s also her eleventh #1 Japanese single.