Hikaru Utada to release a new album in 2018 and scalp her fan base clean

Hikaru Utada wants all of her fans scalped clean for 2018. She made us feel that 2011 hiatus hard. And despite making her long awaited comeback in 2016, she wants everybody to know that she's back in this bitch and that she's accepting wig donations.

We all knew that her digital single "Anata" was due for release on December 8th, but its release has been reduced to a mere footnote. Because on the same day it was announced that Hikaru Utada will release a new studio album in 2018.

Fans had figured that this would be the case given her steady roll out of singles and activity over the course of 2017. But now it's in writing and it's definitely coming.

There is no official release date at this point. Hikaru could drop this shit out of the blue in February, or she could make us wait a whole entire year and drop it in November or December. But it's coming. A NEW ALBUM IS COMING.

Gurl, if you want to leave "Oozora de dakishimete" off the tracklist, I will all understand. I won't lose any sleep over that Suntory water song going its separate way. 

Given the global digital success of Fantôme, everybody was asking where the fuck her albums were on music streaming services such as Apple music, Google play music and Spotify. Hikaru Utada's digital marketing team still be fucking up when it comes to region locking her YouTube uploads. But they have managed to come through on this here front, by releasing her entire back catalogue to streaming services. Every damn album and all of the singles, including the ray of hope remix of "Simple and clean" / "Hikari". So now when I tell my Google home mini to play 'Hikaru Utada' that bitch won't tell me that she don't know who the fuck I'm talking about, even though I done ripped every one of her CD's and uploaded them into my Google music library.

But a bitch ain't done.

Hikaru Utada is in an incredibly fortunate position, in that she's been able to achieve and maintain a high level of commercial success without touring as extensively as her peers. Where-as most artists have toured with every album cycle and even managed to squeeze additional tours in-between these, Hikaru has never been that chick. But she 'bout to be. Because she will embark on a domestic tour.

Dates are still to be confirmed. But I'mma say this right now. If Hikaru's London living ass don't give me a gig in London, I will kick up a fuss. It won't mean shit. But I'll kick a fuss up regardless. And Prince Harry and Meghan Markle better get to know who her royal Highness Hikaru is and invite her to the royal wedding.

Hikaru's last domestic tour was her Utada United tour back in 2006. It's going to be interesting to see what she delivers and if she still has what it takes, given that it's been 12 years since she last toured. Hikaru Utada's pre-hiatus farewell concert Wild life in 2010 was a great show, which was a nice reminder of what a show-woman Hikaru is. But it also highlighted how out of practice she was at singing for long periods of time. She sounded amazing at the start, but by the end she was playing Battleships with some of her notes and losing.

Hikaru Utada has always been mad consistent with her music and her aesthetic, so I can't imagine her tour delivering a great deal of surprises. Her stage setup will be super simple. She'll tour with a live band which consists of a string section. There will probably be a massive ass screen, because no high profile top selling artist tours nationally without some big ass screen.

But it will be amazing to hear her sing her old songs with her seasoned voice and from the perspective of now being a wife and a mother. Hikaru seems to be obsessed with live strings and horn sections, so there's a high likelihood that she'll re-work many of her older songs to feature them. If she gave me a stripped down rendition of "Automatic" with live strings I'd die. DIE YA'LL.

By this point, if you're a Hikaru Utada fan, your wig is probably hanging on by strands of baby hairs. But there's more.

Those of you who have been long standing readers of this here blog will know that a Hikaru Utada related post rarely goes without some mention of Kingdom Hearts III. I am a broken record when it comes to what I'm about to say, but I will say it again. I have stood firm in the belief that regardless of the rumoured disputes between Hikaru's management and Disney, that she would deliver the theme for Kingdom Hearts III. Hikaru Utada is too synonymous with the series for her to not be a part of it. Not with the way that Square Enix have run "Simple and clean" / "Hikari" into the ground with every Kingdom Hearts spin-off / tie-in game they've released since Kingdom Hearts II. But to add fuel to the fire, Hikaru's trolling ass father and manager alluded to his daughter retaining her involvement in the Disney and Final Fantasy cross over series when a fan asked about it.

I can't say anything yet, but be positive! We won't break your heart. teruzane

— u3music (@u3music) December 6, 2017

If Hikaru Utada's contribution to Kingdom Hearts III is a remix of "Passion" / "Sanctuary" I will throw my copy of Ultra blue in the dustbin*.

Kingdom Hearts III is slated for a 2018 release. So the release date of Hikaru Utada's seventh studio album could potentially give us an indication of when Kingdom Hearts III is released if the song ends up featuring on her album, which is highly likely. But Japanese record labels feel no way about having an artist release a brand new single mere weeks after their album drops and then not having that shit appear on an album for 2 years. Either way, Hikaru's continued involvement with Square Enix is a good look and it also gives fans reassurance (however veiled it may be) that Kingdom Hearts will see the light of day next year and that it won't get pushed back yet again.

Hikaru Utada fans need to savour whatever Slaykaru Queentada gives us in 2018, because in the wake of her hiatus in 2010 and Namie Amuros's retirement, you just don't know when a bitch will call it a day.

There will undoubtedly be more news to come in terms of what Hikaru has in store for our hairlines in 2018 and this is only concerning her Japanese shit. We've still not got all of the Utada releases available on streaming services yet, so there's still that to come. News to coincide with her announcing tour dates in the US, Europe and the UK? Always a possibility.

* I would never.