Hikaru Utada
Reviewed on this page:
Deep River - Exodus - Ultra Blue - Heart Station - This Is The One - Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2
Born in 1983, Hikaru Utada spent her first fifteen years in the US before moving to Japan and immediately becoming a huge pop star. Utada generally works in a dance pop vein - drum loops and layered synths, with the occasional offbeat embellishment like harpsichord - and her voice is punchy and clear if slightly impersonal. What sets her apart is a knack for indelible melodies and an unpretentious honesty: It's refreshing to see a big international star without a self-consciously larger than life image: Utada comes across as a friend casually sharing the ups and downs of an ordinary life, except that she compresses them into indelible moments of pop perfection. Like Mariah Carey, Utada finds emotional depth in normally shallow musical formats, and she's a heck of a lot easier to relate to. After a decade-long run at the top of the charts (marred only by two unsuccessful attempts to break through in her native land), Utada took a break from the music business starting in late 2010; I don't think anyone knows when she'll be back.
Generally speaking, her Japanese releases are under the name "Utada Hikaru" and the U.S. releases are under "Utada"; according to her record label, though, any future releases will be under "Hikaru Utada" regardless of market. (DBW)
Precious (Cubic U: 1998)
Working under the name Cubic U (representing "Utada to the third power"), Utada recorded her first album in New York in 1996; it wasn't released anywhere until 1998 and didn't make much of a splash.
(DBW)
First Love (1999)
Utada relocated to Tokyo, started using her real name, and soon delivered a couple of smash hits ("Automatic/Time Will Tell" and "Movin' On Without You") and then this re-debut.
(DBW)
Distance (2001)
Buoyed by hits including "Addicted To You" (produced with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis), this became Japan's top seller of 2001.
(DBW)
 Deep River (2002)
This was her third studio album, and by some measures her most successful: opening with the #1 single "Sakura Drops" and rarely falling short of that standard. Though there are dance tracks ("Traveling") and ballads ("Play Ball"), the pace never gets truly fast or truly slow; the biggest departure is the mildly raucous "Uso Mitai Na I Love You."
So what makes the record work is consistently catchy melodies ("Traveling") and a sincerity you rarely hear in something so commercial (title track; "Hikari") - like Mariah Carey, Utada finds emotional depth in normally shallow musical formats.
Curiously, "A.S.A.P." replays the same Young And The Restless theme heard the year before on Mary J. Blige's "No More Drama."
Utada wrote everything here, arranged with Kei Kawano and produced with Akira Miyake and Teruzane Sking (a pseudonym for Hikaru's father).
Weird trivia: the physical CD I bought is miscoded, so when you rip it to MP3 the track titles and album information incorrectly indicate that you're listening to Distance.
(DBW)
 Exodus (2004)
Utada's first English-language release (not counting Precious), and though it was indifferently promoted Stateside it's worth searching out. Again, Utada starts with airy dance pop but mixes in a series of unexpected elements: the acoustic guitar/piano ballad "About Me" is garnished with industrial noises; "Tippy Toe" is carried along by rubbery bass synth.
Her voice shows hints of Tori Amos (though she stays in a high register), and her melodic sense is remarkable ("Wonder 'Bout").
When her love-and-lose lyrics stick to commonplaces ("Devil Inside") she nears the Taylor Swift "catchy but who cares?" category; more often, though, she digs deeper ("Easy Breezy," winsomeness concealing a sharp edge).
Mostly self-written and produced, though two so-so cuts were collaborations with Timbaland ("Let Me Give You My Love"; "Exodus '04").
(DBW)
Ultra Blue (2006)
A commercial disappointment, and I can't hear why: Utada manages to access more emotional registers than before, despite using an even more limited palette: synth dominates every track (guitars crop up just a couple of times), backed by electronic percussion so minimal it's demo-like ("Nichiyo No Asa").
Her voice - while always unforced, clear and accurate - isn't strikingly expressive or rich in timbre.
Even the melodies are rarely mindblowingly original. But the pieces fit together magically, as she keeps subtly modifying the layers of keyboards to create surprising contrasts ("Wings"), and she's similarly deft manipulating song structure ("Kairo," basically 100% coda).
That's how she can move from a joyous, elastic pop song ("Making Love") straight to a devastating heartbreaker ("Dareka No Negai Ga Kanau Koro") with perfect poise. The album cuts are as strong as the #1 hits ("Colors"; "Be My Last"). Meanwhile, "Eclipse" is possibly the best interlude I've heard since EWF were at the the top of their game. So masterful overall that the few lightweight tracks ("Keep Tryin'") seem like the work of an impostor. Produced with Miyake and Teruzane Utada (under his real name this time).
(DBW)
 Heart Station (2008)
A rebound from a sales perspective, though it sounds like a placeholder to me. The hits are memorable ("Stay Gold," with a gently rippling keyboard line; the luscious "Flavor Of Life," present in two versions), and some tunes have the blissful formlessness she'd conjured on Ultra Blue ("Kiss & Cry"; "Take 5"). But there's also a fair amount of dry, formulaic pop ("Celebrate"; title track), and nothing strikingly different (though the lighthearted "I'm A Bear" is a bit of a changeup).
It's not that I don't recommend this album: it's that I recommend her other albums more highly.
(DBW)
This Is The One (2009)
Utada's second serious attempt to crack the U.S. market, mostly produced by Stargate and Tricky Stewart, and while it didn't succeed in those terms, it's quite solid. Her usual pop love songs are unaffected and affecting ("Come Back To Me"), and there's continued growth: "Me Muero" makes sly use of boogaloo organ and flute in its sinuous groove. A couple of club-oriented numbers are fun if silly ("Automatic Part II"; "Poppin'"); otherwise, there's much more acoustic (or pseudo-acoustic) piano than usual, and far fewer synth layers: the approach flirts with Vanessa Carlton-ish triteness ("Apples And Cinnamon"), but ultimately brings her closer to singer-songwriter norms without diminishing her emotional force ("Happy Birthday Mr. Lawrence - FYI").
(DBW)
Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2 (2010)
Unlike Utada's first singles compilation, this includes six new tracks (her final recordings before a self-imposed hiatus), comprising the best greatest-hits extras this side of Original Musiquarium.
She tries on several new styles - loud drums and guitars on "Show Me Love (Not A Dream)"; nightclub jazz on Edith Piaf's "Hymne A L'Amour" - and somehow blends them into a cohesive, wistful examination of her life and work before age 30 ("Goodbye Happiness"). Even the Chistmas song fits the contemplative mood.
Throughout she seems comfortable with what she's accomplished, but also senses she's barely scratched the surface of some deeper truths. A quietly dazzling EP that only sets the bar higher for Utada when she chooses to return to recording.
(DBW)
Keep tryin'.
|
