Hikaru Utada to harvest wigs in June with her 7th album Hatsukoi

Hikaru Utada - Hatsukoi | Random J Pop

Hikaru Utada snatched her entire fan-base clean over Christmas of 2017 when she announced that she would be dropping a new album, in the midst of news that she would be touring and that her whole discography would be available on Apple music, Google Play music and Spotify. Said album now has a title and a release date. Everybody will be able to cop her seventh Japanese studio album Hatsukoi from June 27th.

Hikaru Utada's seventh Japanese studio album marks the 20 year anniversary of her career, which is why a bitch is finally bothering to tour. Hatsukoi marks the first of Hikaru's albums to feature a Japanese title, which translates literally as 'First love', which was the title of her first album. Intentional? Bitch, is Ayumi Hamasaki deaf in one ear? Obviously. The album title track will be released as a single on May 30th.

Following Fantôme which was a very brooding, stirring album about loss and the uncertainty of love. All of the songs we've had since have had a completely different disposition, with a focus on finding solace in love. Fantôme was clearly a cathartic album following the death of her mother. So its clear that Hikaru has come out of the other side of that and is in a place where she's at peace with her mother's passing. Or maybe she's found a new man to blow her back out right since divorcing Francesco. But her music has definitely taken a turn, which has oddly even affected her voice.

I'm always here for new Hikaru Utada music, but I'm uncertain about this album. I loved "Forevermore". I loved "Anata". Nothing else I've heard I've particularly enjoyed. I really hope this album isn't just a brighter version of Fantôme, which is what it's shaping up to sound like based on the singles we've had so far. Every album of Hikaru's has always had a vibe which is different to what came before. Hatsukoi based on its singles, does. But it's not the jump I was hoping for from Fantôme, which was completely unlike Heart station which came before it. I may be jumping the gun. The remaining 7 songs that we've yet to hear could completely turn that on its head. But who knows.

Right now, I'm just glad that Hikaru is still active.

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