Album review: Hikaru Utada - Hatsukoi
Hatsukoi was a nice surprise, because I was not expecting it to come so soon after Fantôme. It's probably for the best. Had Hikaru released this album another 2 years down the line, I would have had to drag her for it. Because let me be clear right off the bat; this album is overwhelmingly Fantôme 2.0.
Hatsukoi feeling like an offshoot or another half of Fantôme comes with its merits. It inherits Hikaru's penchant for live instrumentation, to much greater and stunning effect on the likes of the album title track and "Good night". Lyrically and thematically it acts as a great companion. Where-as Fantôme was about loss and questioning love; Hatsukoi is an album about acceptance, finding love again and letting the new dick in your life know how much you appreciate it. If you were to re-order the tracklist of Fantôme so that it doesn't should like a shuffled mess and listen to it back-to-back with Hatsukoi, there is a story of a woman moving through the darkness int…
Hatsukoi feeling like an offshoot or another half of Fantôme comes with its merits. It inherits Hikaru's penchant for live instrumentation, to much greater and stunning effect on the likes of the album title track and "Good night". Lyrically and thematically it acts as a great companion. Where-as Fantôme was about loss and questioning love; Hatsukoi is an album about acceptance, finding love again and letting the new dick in your life know how much you appreciate it. If you were to re-order the tracklist of Fantôme so that it doesn't should like a shuffled mess and listen to it back-to-back with Hatsukoi, there is a story of a woman moving through the darkness int…
