Single Review: Ayumi Hamasaki - Nonfiction

Ayu has never had the easiest time of branching out and expanding her sound, or trying to land something which is widely loved, post her being ousted as the top Avex bitch. She’s like a rubber band. Whenever she tries something new, regardless of how good or bad it turned out, she snaps right back to doing the same shit she’s done before. But Ayu never makes an attempt to try and meet in the middle. Another thing with Ayu these days is that the results are never remarkable. What she puts out is either terrible or it’s just safe and boring. And “Nonfiction” is another safe and boring song in a string of what have been safe and boring singles for the past few years. But this doesn’t make the song bad. And there’s a lot here for Ayu fans to like, even if it won’t rank highly on their list of best Ayu songs.

If you are an Ayu fan, and this is all of the things you are willing to handle being said about Ayu and “Nonfiction” today, then tap out now. Otherwise, read on.

When the “Nonfiction” single cover was released, I’d mentioned that it reminded me of Namie Amuro. Even though Ayu herself does not look like Namie on the cover, it still reminded me of her. AAAAAAAND I feel similarly about the song. This almost playful, dark jester style electro sound is something Namie had done a couple of times before, starting with “Hide & Seek” in 2007. And one Namie affiliated song that “Nonfiction” reminded me of was “Grotesque”; a Ken Hirai song which Namie featured on back in 2014. And the music video even featured spooky bunny rabbits, just as the music video for “Nonfiction” does. This isn’t said to be a slight on “Nonfiction” or insinuate that Ayu is copying Namie. It’s just an observation, and one that I’m sure that many others will make, as if the long ponytail wasn’t enough. But it does highlight something that I think has been a problem for Ayu for a while now. And that is that Ayu’s brand has become so diluted over the years, that she now gets easily and flippantly compared to other women in J-music, far more than she already did. And whilst it’s easy to blame many of us, Ayu is doing it to herself by failing to really hone in on what her core brand was in the first place. “Nonfiction” is very much on brand for Ayu. But we’ve had so many others do this sound and style of song so much better, and with a level of conviction and gravitas that makes it theirs.

Ayumi Hamasaki | Nonfiction

When I listen to “Nonfiction” I get the sense that it wants to be big; between the super dramatic and cinematic intro and the bridge section. But the song itself doesn’t sound as big and as bombastic as it seems to think it is. There’s a tepidness to “Nonfiction”, when it should be big and bold. I dig the sound “Nonfiction” goes for and the vibe. But the execution lets it down. The production isn’t slick enough. It’s not tight enough. The song doesn’t bang. Ayu’s presence on the song is neither here nor there. “Nonfiction” is not interesting to listen to, and doesn’t elicit any desire for me to wanna dance to it, buss into a squat, or whip my imaginary high ponytail. Had Namie Amuro done this song, chances are it would have given what it needed to give. Because one thing about Namie and her team, is that from Queen of Hip-Pop onward, they made sure she was put on songs where the production was tight. As time would go on, some of Namie’s songs would end up overproduced. But still, I’d rather overproduced, than under produced. Even when the songs weren’t always great and the albums weren't fully hitting (looks over at Uncontrolled, Feel and _genic), the production was always solid on the whole. “Nonfiction” needed a layer of finesse to really make it feel fully realised and impactful.

The producer of “Nonfiction” is Hisashi Koyama, who has racked up a long discography via his work on anime themes, which explains why some parts of the song sound the way they do. It’s certainly easy to imagine “Nonfiction” as an anime intro theme. But this may also explain why there isn’t that final coat of pop gloss to make the song the pop monster that it should be, and wants to be. Ayu’s long term collaborator Tasuku is credited as the arranger of “Nonfiction”. And whilst I get that Ayu feels a loyalty to him, I think that she needs to be a lot more selective and sparing as to when she brings him into the fold. Tasuku’s penchant for knowing Ayu’s sound surely provides a level of comfort for her in the studio, but it’s also what holds her back.

Dance / electro have never been the best fits for Ayu unless Yohanne Simon is involved. The two Ayu dance electro songs he was involved with (“XOXO” and “Movin’ on Without You”) just happen to be two of Ayu’s best dance songs. I don’t know why she didn’t hit him up to bring his touch to “Nonfiction”. It would have made a world of difference to the final result.

Ayumi Hamasaki | Nonfiction

Ayu is not as brave as some of her peers when it comes to her music, which would be fine if the music felt like it was incrementally giving us something new. At this point, nobody is expecting Ayu to come out with a song which is far removed from what she has done before. But her sound is in dire need of evolution. It doesn’t need to be wildly different. It just needs to show growth and a willingness to let some things go. Take an artist like Mariah Carey. Not once in her 30+ year career has she given us a crazy deviation or some left field song. And for years she was giving us the same song over and over (“Honey”, “Heartbreaker” and “Loverboy” are the same damn song). But from album to album, there was always growth and evolution in Mariah’s sound, the way she sings, and her approach to music. The same can be said for Namie Amuro and Hikaru Utada. As you move though their discographies, from their debuts right up to their latest releases, you can hear the growth. With Ayu, this stopped being the case a long time ago. So little of what Ayu has released over the past decade has pushed her in any way, and “Nonfiction” is Ayu once again choosing to stay stuck in the past and refusing to take a step forward.

“Nonfiction” is not a bad song. I think it’s fine. But it’s not a great song either, and at this point in Ayu’s career, it needed to be. And the sad thing is, it had the potential to be. “Nonfiction” is so nondescript from what Ayu has done before, that you could put it on any of her past albums and be none the wiser. It could be a song on Next Level. It could be a song on Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus. It could be a song on Party Queen. “Nonfiction” also feels especially stale at a time when her peers and other artists who have been in the game for a minute are finding their musical sweet spots which puts them on the right track, and is more indicative of where their music should be headed. “Nonfiction” doesn’t speak to Ayu’s artistry in any way whatsoever, which is wild given how much expressing it is something that she fought for and once valued. But...maybe this is Ayu’s artistry now. Maybe a bitch done peaked.

Ayumi Hamasaki | Nonfiction

“Nonfiction” was a chance for Ayu to really make a statement both musically and visually, and she dropped the ball on both. “Nonfiction” arrives on a whimper, when it should have arrived with a bang, and left Scramble Crossing scorched. Especially in the wake of the news that Ayu is celebrating her 24th anniversary as an artist, and that she is releasing her first album in 6 years. 

“Nonfiction” is not a bad song. And whilst I feel strongly that it should have been better and given more, I think fans will be somewhat relieved that the song doesn’t flat out suck, that it’s fun, and that they’ve got a cute new Ayu bop in the discography. But the fact is that Ayu needs to want more from her music and be willing to give more, if she wants the masses to take her and her music seriously again.

VERDICT: Facts are facts