Album review: Hikaru Utada - Deep river

Deep river is an album which holds a fair bit of significance. After all, it is the album which features the song that catapulted Hikaru Utada onto American and European radars: "Hikari" ( better known to many of us as "Simple and clean"). It's also the album where the Hikaru Utada we know and love now began to truly emerge; managing to bring songs of substance without following an obvious and popular trend.

Amongst a Japanese soundscape where many female acts were either sounding the same or beginning to jump on the US R&B bandwagon, Hikaru took her shit in the other direction. Deep river draws with its sweeping, organic and heart felt sound — a departure from the templated commercial sound of half of Hikaru's Distance album, instead leaning into the more alternative sounds. This is evident in the first second of the album. "Sakura drops" is a strange way to kick start the whole thing, as it sounds like the kind of song you'd expect to hear mid way through. But it does a stellar job of throwing you head first into the sense of wonderment and exhilaration many of the songs on Deep river evoke. Hikaru's vocals sound so free and vulnerable, and it colours the song beautifully. "Letters" is a song I love, but it wasn't always the case. For some reason I always used to skip this track when ever I'd play the album. I have no idea why. My loss, because "Letters" is an absolute gem of a song. The percussion, the acoustic guitars, piano and ethereal synths which underlie the song give it real sense of exhilaration. It's such a summer song. "Letters" gives off the exact same vibe as the album track "Travelling", except with a more organic feel due to the percussive instrumentations. A stunning song. "Hikari" finishes off the album. Initially it felt like a tagged on bonus track, but it actually rounds the album off nicely. I once preferred the PlanitB remix and barely played the original. But somewhere along the way I fell for the original in a big way. It truly is a great song, and the one that many Western fans will probably remember Hikaru for. It's a shame that the song "Colors" was recorded after Deep river was released, as it would have fit the album better than it did Ultra blue; sitting nicely between "Deep river" and "Letters".

A fair few of the albums cuts reveal that Hikari is still that partial to a bit of fun and something with a fast tempo you can throw some elbows to. "Travelling" is one of my favourite Hikaru Utada songs. It's wonderfully upbeat and never fails to put a smile on my face. Hikaru trued to match the same sense of fun and energy with her later songs "One night magic" and "Celebrate", but she's never been able to touch "Travelling". The music and vocal production on this song are both great and super polished. The song is made even better by its amazing music video. "Uso mitai na (I love you)" has Hikaru workin' out a bit of rock. Hikaru doesn't have the best rock voice, but she just about manages to pull the song off. Before Max Martin and Dr. Luke popularised the pop meets thrashy punk rock sound with songs such as Kelly Clarkson's "Since U been gone", Hikaru was already on it 2 years prior. I can't say that I'd like Hikaru to do more songs like this, especially when the music peaks and valleys so much throughout the song and the guitars tend to grate on the whole. As a cool quirk though, the song uses the same melody on it's chorus as "Simple and clean".

Things slow down and get stripped right back for "Deep river", and it's the one song that sticks on the album for me. It's minimalistic sound highlights Hikaru's vocals beautifully. Up until this album, Hikaru had been known for featuring on rich, layered productions — making you wonder whether she would still be able to keep afloat on a song without so much surrounding her vocals. "Deep river" is the answer. Yes, she can. Every word she sings feels heartfelt. The minimalism carries through to "Final distance", which is a re-working of the song "Distance" from Hikaru's album of the same name. The song was re-arranged in memory of a fan of hers who had been killed. This song marked something Hikaru would soon trend and do on later releases: creating 2 versions of the same song — each taking on an entirely different tone. I loved "Distance", and have to confess to preferring it to "Final distance". But the sentiment behind the song is beautiful  and Hikaru does a great job flipping the original song into something new, which also sounds very Enya like — which isn't the most obvious of inspirations and vibes for a pop star.

Deep river isn't as R&B as Distance, but the album doesn't abandon the sound completely.  "Shiawase ni narou" which sounds very much like First love Hikaru meeting Distance Hikaru in the middle. The song starts nice and pretty, but once the chorus comes in, a dark streak emerges which punctuates the whole song — making the situation in the song feel like something that's about to fall apart. If I were to compare it to one of Hikaru's later songs, I'd compare it to "Prisoner of love". "Play ball" is nice with it's echoed percussion and 808's. As with "Shiawase ni narou" the music swings back and forth between really light and darkness. Hikaru's vocals aren't all that strong here, but the ambience of the production and the arrangements save them. "A.S.A.P" is an album standout. It has such a big sound to it, that it immediately catches your attention. Why this song was not picked up as a drama or film theme song, I haven't the foggiest. As with "Shiawase ni narou" and "Play ball", there is an urgency to the music. The refrain being sung until the song fades is a small touch which catches me every time and has me rewinding 200 odd times before I finally decide to just let the song finish. "A.S.A.P" song has a sense of familiarity due to it featuring a similar melody to the theme of The young and the restless, a theme which was sampled for Mary J. Blige's "No more drama".

The one thing I noticed instantly when I first listened to this album was how much stronger Hikaru's vocals were in comparison to First love and Distance. As nice and refreshing as Hikaru's vocals were, they always sounded a little unstable. Deep river sees Hikaru singing with a great deal more stability and control over her vocals. She still sounds a little raw and rough around the edges in places. But Hikaru's vocal game is definitely a step up. Deep river also sees her playing around with the arrangements a little more — giving the songs a richer sound and making her voice music in itself. "Sakura drops", "Travelling" and "A.S.A.P" showcase this best.

Deep river is an odd album to take at first, because much like its album cover its sound is black and white, light and dark. The album swings between these styles almost a little too casually, often within a song. But it does a great job of highlighting how joy and pain are both sides of the same coin, and Hikaru's ability to really play on this and do so brilliantly via quirky story telling and song writing.

Deep river is the album where the Hikaru Utada we know and love now truly began to emerge. And I think it's with this album that Hikaru truly found her sound. Distance was fine. But Deep river's song just hit differently. There so much more feeling in them. Plus, the album holds sentimental weight to me as it was the first Hikaru Utada album I had bought and was pretty much the soundtrack to my summer of 2002.

Hikaru's third album is a great addition to the Hikaru Utada collection if you're missing it and a great album to jump in at if you're a Hikaru Utada newcomers. And to squash all doubt for you "Hikari" and "Simple and cleans" fans may have concerning about copping this album, I'll just say this — if you liked "Hikari", you'll love everything else this album has to offer.

Ask me what my favourite Hikaru Utada album is and I'll swing back and forth between this and Ultra blue — but if it's a day I've listened to a song from this album, it'll be Deep River.

VERDICT: WHAT'CHA DOIN' TONIGHT? LET'S GO FOR A RIDE!

Album highlights:
■ Sakura drops
■ Traveling 🏆 J's fave
■ Shiawase ni narō | 幸せになろう
■ Deep river
■ Letters
■ A.S.A.P
■ Uso mitai na I love you | 嘘みたいな I love you
■ Hikari | 光