Utada Hikaru's Fantome

Utada Hikaru is back and I could not be any happier. She was the first J-pop artist I fell in love with and I still love her music to this day. So I cannot wait to have her upcoming album, Fantome, as a part of my collection to listen to. Until then I will have to settle with taking in all the information I can about the release. Thankfully there is finally an album title and track listing to go with the September 28th release date.

1.  道 (Michi)
2.  俺の彼女 (Ore no Kanojo)
3.  花束を君に (Hanataba wo Kimi ni)
4.  二時間だけのバカンス (Nijikan dake no Vacation)
5.  人魚 (Ningyo)
6.  ともだち (Tomodachi)
7.  真夏の通り雨 (Manatsu no Tooriame)
8.  荒野の狼 (Kouya no Ookami)
9.  忘却 (Boukyaku)
10.  人生最高の日 (Jinsei Saikou no Hi)
11.  桜流し (Sakura Nagashi)


The album is said to reflect her thoughts and emotions with her grief over losing her mother as well as becoming a mother herself. Because of this I have the expectation that this will be one of her most personal and emotional albums yet.

While the album is not naturally a favorite of mine I can see why it was chosen as it has that ethereal look to it that fits the title of the album, which is the French word for "phantom". That and Hikki tends to go simple with her album covers so it hardly breaks away from that.

A selfish part of me wishes that the track listing was longer but in the end I am certain I will be happy with what was included. Especially if there is another song that I love as much as Sakura Nagashi on the album.

I am definitely ordering a physical copy of the album but will most likely buy the digital version as well. With my finances still being on the tight side of things I will have to order it with other CDs I want to pre-order so I am not sure when I will end up having the physical CD. So the moment it is up on the US iTunes store I am buying it. Hikki is one the artists I listen to that I will gladly double dip for with a release no matter what.

Fantome [SHM-CD]

Utada Hikaru