The most glaring problem with Next level is that Ayumi's voice doesn't suit a lot of the songs. The album has a very electro pop, synth heavy driven sound, which does not suit Ayumi at all. She is no Britney, Lady Gaga, Tommy february6 or Kumi Koda - she doesn't have that 'one-size fits all' type of the voice that the aforementioned artists have. Ayu sings these electro songs the same way she sings her regular stuff and it just doesn't work. Only on the song "Rollin'" (the album's strongest electro synth pop cut by far) does it SOMEWHAT work. Ayumi just about gets away with this song because there are large chunks of it which are instrumental, and on the few occasions she does she's either auto-tuned or drowned out by all mixture of synths, guitars and warbling bass lines. Crystal Kay or Namie Amuro would've shut this song DOWN.
The slow songs are all great though, and have Ayumi in her complete element. Ayumi has a very old voice on her, which has a tone to it that isn't completely unlike an enka singer, and this is put to great use on the ballads. "Green" is stunning. Ayumi gets overpowered by the instrumentation and she warbles off key one too many times, but the production is so grand and epic that you kind of forgive the vocal shortcoming. "Days" is your run of the mill, typical Japanese ballad. I'm a complete sucker for these songs, so I fell for this song on a first listen. "Days" would've been better in the hands of Kumi Koda, who has more vocal power than Ayumi; but as with "Green", musically the song is so damn good that you get caught up in it. The album's first proper track "Next Level" sits nicely between a ballad and a full on uptempo cut, and has Ayumi sounding in her element. More songs which bridge the gap between something uptempo and a ballad would've done the album justice and given Ayu a new lane to try.
Next Level gets points for having a pretty consistent sound aside from the odd deviation on a couple of tracks. But the problem is that Ayumi doesn't sell all of the songs. The electro pop club numbers all feature interesting enough sounds, but as soon as Ayumi opens her mouth to sing, the songs just fall apart. The instrumental interludes (of which there are 4) are wasted. It's a real shame that Ayumi just isn't able to deliver vocal for electro, because "Bridge to the sky", "Disco-munication" and "Pieces of seven" could have been great fully fleshed out songs. But I guess we can enjoy the fact that we don't have to listen to Ayu struggle over them.
I have to admit that Next Level is better than I expected. But there's no getting away from the whole album being a case of great material that went to the wrong lady. Ayu should've given all of the songs to Tommy february6, as she would've sold the songs every which way and showed Ayumi that she's steering in the wrong lane. From a woman who has been in the music game for over a decade, you'd think Ayu would know what sound works for her by now, and be able to put out an album which showcases her talents from start to finish. But instead she slung herself head first onto the electro pop bandwagon and put herself in a position where she's completely out of her depth. Maybe Ayumi will get it right in a years time, when she'll probably have yet another album out.
Album highlights:
■ Bridge To the Sky
■ Next Level 🏆
■ Disco-munication
■ Rollin' 🔥
■ Green
■ Love 'n Hate
■ Piece of Seven
■ Days
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