Album Review: Utada Hikaru-Ultra Blue

It has recently come to my attention, and subsequently, to my collection, that Utada Hikaru has released a new japanese album: Ultra Blue.

And after the putrid wompa faeces of a spectacle that was her last album [Exodus], I can happily say that Ultra Blue is the masterpiece we were expecting since Deep River.

I shall now do what every music site should partake and review each of the songs in the angelic album individually.

1)This is Love: An electrical trance-ish song with a lot of spirit and the usual J-Pop catchy-ness. 7/10

2)Keep Tryin': An upbeat, almost bubble-gum pop song which tries to get a blend of catchy J-Pop and some of her deeper, slower songs. 5/10

3)BLUE: A true Utada Hikaru classic. It has the ethereal quality of Passion blended with a certain special something that has me put it on repeat on more than one occassion. The best song on the album in my opinion. 10/10

4)Nichiyo no Asa: Another blended song which marries the maturity and pop of Deep River with the immaturity and R&B of Distance. Very good on its own, but compared to some of the evolved tracks on the album, its a decent attempt. 7/10

5)Making Love: The second classic of the album. A very catchy yet seemingly deep song with an entrancing tune and chorus. 10/10

6)Dareka no Negai ga Kanaukoro: A slow, Final Distance-ish ballad. Easy on the ears and a soul-stirring one at that. 8/10

7)COLORS: An old song by the time they included it into this album, but a good one at least. Very reminiscent of some of the songs of Deep River, not surprising since it was released a few months after the classic album. 6/10

8)One Night Magic feat. Yamada Masashi: A very R&B-ish song with some masterful sound effects. Reminiscent of her album- Distance. Very decent. 7/10

9)Kairo: A slow, rousing track consisiting of violins and an almost melancholic ambience. 8/10

10)WINGS: A beautiful, smooth track which almost sounds like it's some kind of anime outro or something. Lots of piano. Very good overall. 8/10

11)Be My Last: An average song that is best heard as the slow version Utada Hikaru sang live a while back. Hearkens to the Exodus 'incident'. Average song overall...but in relation to the rest of the album...meh. 4/10

12)Eclipse (Interlude): Its a non-vocal interlude that perfectly sets the mood of the rest of the album. Very nice. 7/10

13)Passion: Pretty much the single most famous song in this album, mainly for being the theme song to Kingdom Hearts II. A surreal song which seems to transcend the fabrics of time and space as the aurora does in the northern skies. Beautiful. 10/10

Overall thoughts: After the Exodus 'incident' it seems that Utada Hikaru is back in musical shape. This new album clearly shows her evolution as a musician as she grows in age and experience. Each song in the album seems to push the limits of genre-labelling to its limits...some even surpasses it and manages to make a new genre all to itself. An incredible undertaking and one that I personally am glad she managed to nail right. A rousing 9/10.

Note to Utada Hikaru: Get to work on surpassing this! Or marry me...either one will do! [I veto the second one!]