It’s been a decade and a half since Utada Hikaru emerged in Japanese music scene and went on to become one of the greatest artists of all time. After years of hiatus, this year Utada announced her marriage and the hints about new music started to surface. In retrospect, let’s take a look at some of the best works — under both Japanese and international labels — over the course of her monumental career.
Check out no. 10 – no. 6 here.
5. First Love
First Love (1999)
The era-defining mega hit cemented then 16-year-old Utada as one of the greatest Japanese artists of all time. The very essence of late ’90s R&B ballad — uncomplicated sentimentality and timeless composition — made this one an instant classic that has been standing through the test of time. The song has become so quintessential to all of her live shows that it’s automatic to imagine the sound of cheering crowd emerging right after bittersweet piano intro starts — a magical moment where, through the pure power of music, the audience can relive vivid memories of cigarette-flavored first kiss in high school. Like one’s very own first love, the record holds a special place in many many hearts.
4. Sakura Nagashi
(2012)
‘Everybody finds love in the end’ sings Utada in this emotional tour de force, a brief return from her extended hiatus to compose original soundtrack for the third installment of Evangelion movie series. Words about the preciousness of life and tragic fate of all existence are beautifully woven like a poem and delivered elegantly as if she’s reciting one. From stripped down melancholy piano, the slow-burn ballad builds itself up with Utada’s raw, emotive vocals like never before to a heartbreaking string-laden soft-rock climactic finale. If two years away from music scene promises such a refreshing artistic leap in one of her best works to date, Utada’s new music will certainly be something to behold.
3. SAKURA Drops
Deep River (2002)
SAKURA Drops is the centerpiece of Deep River, the album regarded widely as Utada’s music transformation into more mature, abstract sound. At its core, this is an anthemic lovelorn ballad that cites the survival of cherry blossom trees as an empowering metaphor for one’s perseverance despite heartbreaks, but it’s the music arrangement that truly makes the song shine. Anchoring its crisp, surreal atmosphere are the signature “waterdrop” synths, while the use of mellow acoustic guitars and Utada’s breaths adds to the song’s distinctly organic feel.
The awe-inspiring music video directed by Kiriya Kazuaki, Utada’s ex-husband — bursting with colorful illustrations of imaginary wildlife — is a contributing factor, if not the most significant, that helps the song become a beautiful work of art that it is.
2. Passion
Ultra Blue (2006)
Utada lets her imagination run wild and free in this soundtrack of a fantasy RPG Kingdom Hearts II as though she were an expressionist painter. The sky is a canvas for rolling clouds of ambient synths and thunderstorms of swelling electric guitars and battlefield marching drums. And in such a precisely calculated fashion that it might as well be a miracle in itself, she manages to fit reversed lyrics ‘I need more affection than you know’ perfectly into soaring, stadium-sized choruses. The final product is greater than the sum of its parts — boasting virtual sound of grandiosity while staying grounded by real world’s music, a masterpiece that is Utada’s natural high on her creative prowess.
1. HEART STATION
Heart Station (2008)
I feel a strong need to justify why the title track of Utada’s latest Japanese studio album deserves its place at the top of the list. It’s neither particularly popular among fans nor seemingly one of Utada’s favorites herself as she perennially excluded it from her live shows. The song sounds too simple for the artist of such caliber who, time and again, has shown that she’s capable of pretty much anything. That argument is indeed valid but as bold as all Utada’s records sound, this song proves that Utada can also do subtle very well — an epitome of “Less is More”.
Lyrically, the song is an inner monologue of a girl who’s connected with, surprise surprise, “Heart Station” — a conceptual radio station where she can send to and receive from her past lover private heart-to-heart messages. Now you must think this is as cheesy as every bad pick-up line you read and laugh at on the internet, and honestly I’m not going to defend it because damn straight, it totally is. But it’s also something very personal, straightforward that we don’t see Utada write about very often. Apart from her refreshing songwriting approach, its genius lies in the fact that the song effectively serves as a surprising social commentary to Tokyo, one of Utada’s hometowns. As a citizen of the metropolitan myself, I feel that the song knows Tokyo cold. Known for their world-class politeness, Japanese people are inherently trained to abide strictly by social norms and to not show feelings — the fact that despite the city’s bleeding-edge technology, the girl in the song has to resort back to something resembling traditional radio transmission to express her real emotions brilliantly plays with that very trait of Tokyo in such an ironic, candid way. The use of the word “station” is also a homage to how Japanese people’s life constantly revolves around train stations as a result of the country’s highly advanced public transportation system. Here, the word is used as “one’s home base” — a virtual channel where, free of judgement from society, through secret signals one can whisper sweet nothings and gently plant a good-night kiss on the forehead of the loved one. It’s a perfect romantic spin on the city where sincere communications are rare and loneliness is pervasive.
Only three keyboard sounds, as opposed to usual horde of synths and live instruments, are featured here on top of Utada’s feminine, airy vocal performance. The chanting of the song title is a nice touch not only because it cleverly mimics radio station jingles played at the end of a song but also because once paired with those outro coos, it feels earned as the love story unfolds emotionally. Despite relatively minimal composition, the song manages to capture the essence of Tokyo at night — chilly, rainy night where crowd of pedestrians under transparent plastic umbrellas hurriedly shuffling through neon-lit streets. The song can fit right in Utada’s resume of atmospheric music while differentiates itself from the rest with its confident, effortless charisma. Utada’s career, no matter how you twist it, has been built upon pop music. To revisit her root of pure melody-driven pop song with such ease and poise of a mature singer-songwriter sees Utada’s journey coming full circle. HEART STATION is a true testament to her long, ever-evolving career. What’s next? Well, besides Utada herself, only god knows.
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