Crystal Kay's new album should be called ABT. A bitch tried. Because between her 2014 attempt at US pop stardom, her first single in 2015 being a J-drama tie in (which is often a sure fire way of catching a hit) and her follow up "Revolution" featuring the Queen of Miserable, she really is trying.
I never would have expected Crystal Kay and Namie Amuro to collaborate and I'm not sure what I was expecting upon hearing the news that they would be. Either way, their gung-ho effort is lukewarm and forgettable. I don't dislike the song, but it sorely lacks that spark for me to dig it. "Revolution" needed a much stronger chorus, stronger vocal production, a rap from Aklo or Verbal of M-Flo and a greater sense of progression overall. I also feel that this perhaps should have been a Namie Amuro song featuring Crystal Kay. Crystal doesn't own the song and sell it in the same way I feel Namie does; purely because Namie has done this type of song before and its much more within her realm than Crystal's. "Revolution" easily could have been a song for _genic and it may have worked a little better if it had.
Crystal Kay and Namie look good in the video, but the lack of scale was quite discerning given that the scenes offered opportunities for some form of grandiosity. I'll chalk it down to the cinematography which seemed to focus on really tight shots and framing, which made you feel as though you were watching the same footage over and over with no real sense of variation.
Hopefully Namie's name being tied to this, along with the universal EDM sound will help Crystal catch a hit. It would be great if Namie performed this as a one off on her tour and brought Crystal Kay out to perform the song with her. Crystal needs as much promo as she can get, because money can't buy enough promo for Japan to care about her.
I am deeply concerned about Crystal Kay's forthcoming album. Nothing she has released since "My heartbeat" has been that great. She set a bar with Vivid, which was one of 2013's best pop albums and all she's done since then is stop, drop and roll under it.
Crystal's releases are always so far a part an oddly staggered, that I would not be able to lobby a guess at this point whether her next album would be a full length, or an EP. I would rather Crystal dropped an EP with these mediocre songs to bookend this mess. Unless she does a Namie Amuro and fucks all the singles.
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