Album Review: Hikaru Utada - Bad Mode

Let’s talk about Hatsukoi for a minute. Because I don’t think we can really get into Bad Mode without discussing this album first.

Whilst the fandom may not unanimously be able to agree on what Hikaru Utada’s best album is, I think it can agree that it sure as hell isn’t Hatsukoi. Even when I reviewed the album, I wasn’t entirely sure what about it felt so off, or why I knew categorically that it wasn’t one of Hikaru’s better albums; despite it featuring songs which I really liked. But where I’ve landed is that Hatsukoi felt more like a business obligated release, as opposed to a creative one. Hikaru Utada’s 2018 Laughter in the Dark tour was locked in early, and the 20th anniversary of First Love was pinned on the calendar, so Sony probably said ‘Yeah, so we’re gonna need an album to go with it all’ - which informed the release and the title. It makes perfect marketing sense. But the result was an album which felt neither here nor there. Hatsukoi didn’t feel like a whole body of work. It felt like a collection of things which weren’t necessarily intended to sit together. I genuinely feel that Hikaru was just feeling out releasing songs and wasn’t thinking about an album, until Sony said that they needed one.

When I first listened to Bad Mode I immediately felt that it was the follow-up to Fantôme that Hatsukoi should have been. But the more I listened to Bad Mode, the more that Hatsukoi made sense contextually, and I began to see the journey that Hikaru was making through each of these albums. Because the journey that Hikaru makes through Bad Mode, wouldn’t have been possible without the one they had made through Hatsukoi.

If Fantôme was the album about Hikaru Utada trying to find their place in the world having lost love, then Hatsukoi was an album about needing love, and the things we do and the places we go in order to find it. Which leads to Bad Mode being the album of realisation that the true love that you seek needs to be with yourself, before you can even consider loving somebody else right.

Hikaru Utada’s albums have always focused on feelings which are universal, but from unique perspectives; none of which have ever gotten in the way of Hikaru getting their points across. But with Fantôme there was this shift, which was undoubtedly brought on by Hikaru becoming a mother and then losing their own. Hikaru became a lot more frank in their songwriting. Subjects were far more direct. There was no misinterpreting what was being said. And this all carries through to Bad Mode, far more so than it carried through into Hatsukoi. Bad Mode might just be one of Hikaru’s most frank and universal albums to date, and they consciously (or unconsciously) seem to have made an effort to make sure that their thoughts and their stories reach the public in a way that Hikaru never seemed concerned with before.

A key theme of Bad Mode isn’t just love for yourself, but communication.

Bad Mode released at the top of 2022 after a two year (and counting) pandemic. It’s hard not to look at Bad Mode as a pandemic album, because of the album cover being so reflective of what was certainly my life in 2020 - sweats, home and being tired. But the album cover actually says a lot about Bad Mode itself. Hikaru continues their journey of unpacking themselves, letting us in closer to who they are, and not being afraid to show who they are when they are not ‘Hikaru Utada the pop star’. And also becoming comfortable enough to proudly remind people that she is a mother. Hikaru’s son doesn’t just feature on the album cover and in a couple of the inlay shots, he also features on two of the songs - providing vocals on “Kibun Ja Nai no” and contributing to the strings on “Bad Mode”.

Bad Mode also sees Hikaru accepting all facets of who they are in order to move forward. As a person, as a mother, as a daughter, as somebody with insecurities, as somebody who is aware of the relationships of people around them, a being with sexual desires, somebody who is bilingual. And this is just looking at Bad Mode. It doesn’t even include Hikaru Utada coming out as non-binary in 2021. But what this all means musically, is that Bad Mode marks Hikaru’s first album to present all of who they are. We’re not getting that piece-mealed shit any more. There is no Hikaru Utada over here and Utada over there. There is no ‘this’ version of Hikaru Utada or ‘that’ version of Hikaru Utada. Bad Mode sees Hikaru Utada in a position of knowing more about themselves than they did before; making a defiant stance on how they want to be seen in the world as a friend, as a daughter, as a musician, as a lover, and as a mother, as a human being.

Bad Mode feels like Hikaru has thrown every window and door open in the house. And as a long-time fan it feels precious to listen to Hikaru be so open about themselves and their life, because I’ve grown up with Hikaru being one of the soundtracks to my life, and I can tie each album of theirs to a very particular moment in it. Bad Mode is no different. But Bad Mode hits very differently, because it arrived at the tail end of a moment where many of us were living through a shared experience - that being the pandemic. Many of us suffered, and continue to suffer, from anxiety, fear of losing loved ones, the heartbreak of losing a loved one, uncertainty about our futures, how to be a good friend from a distance, and more besides. So Bad Mode manages to not only make me feel like I know Hikaru Utada better, but that however isolated and cut off I felt at one point in my life, I wasn’t as alone as I thought I was. It also made me think about how many people in my life I distanced myself from. Not because I stopped liking / loving them, but because I was hiding from them. Because I wasn’t where I wanted to be in life. Because I was going through shit. Because I didn’t want to be a burden to them. Because I wasn’t sure if they’d accept the person I was becoming. I kinda forgot what being a friend meant. And as a result of that, I distanced myself from people I cared about, thinking it was the best thing for us; when all I did was make them feel like they had done me wrong, and then take myself out of the equation as a form of support if they ever needed me. Gurl. The mode was more than Bad. But Bad Mode reminds us that we’re all human, and that having more compassion for yourself, and good communication is always the best way to handle these sorts of situations. Hikaru manages to make me feel like choices I made were not as catastrophic as they seemed. But also, if I really want to make things right with others, then I have to make things right with myself first.

Hikaru Utada saying that they hope they don’t fuck things up again, telling somebody that they’re not in the mood to go anywhere, and that they want to bugger off to somewhere near Marseille to be a hoe for a long weekend feels affirming.

The nerve of this bitch to make me wrestle my feelings like this. This wasn’t supposed to be about me.

Hikaru Utada - Bad Mode | © 2022 Sony Music Labels Inc. | Image courtesy of hikaruutada_jp

Consolidating all that they are and all that they’ve done musically into one album is something that Hikaru Utada has been doing for a while now. Slowly, but surely. But now it feels like Hikaru is standing in our faces and saying ‘HERE YOU FUCKING GO’, Everybody wanted a bitch to give us a clear signpost on an album that said ‘Exodus’, and Hikaru finally did it. Not only does Bad Mode feature nods to Exodus musically (“Find Love” is Exodus as hell, as is the hedonism of “Somewhere Near Marseille”), but Exodus was also an album about the kind of person that Hikaru was working towards being. So, Bad Mode also manages to feel like the follow up to Exodus that fans have long wanted.

Bad Mode also features a couple of songs in English, one of which is not a bonus track, but a bonafide part of the main tracklist - a first for a Hikaru Utada album. And Bad Mode doesn’t just feature a couple of English songs, but Japanese songs with a whole lotta English. “Bad Mode”, “Kibun Ja Nai no” and “Somewhere Near Marseille” all feature instances where a verse or the hook is sung in Japanese, and then at another point in the song, flipped into English, or visa-versa. Hikaru is saying the exact same things, just in different languages. And it’s such a cool thing when you notice it happening.

Hikaru Utada has always been bilingual, but has felt the need to separate these identities musically. I have no idea why though. Hikaru Utada has seldom gone with the status quo of Japanese music. And then we hit a point in J-pop when Namie Amuro was out here releasing Japanese albums with hella English, outselling every bitch, and her ass couldn’t even speak the language. And Bad Mode finally breaks the streak of Hikaru Utada’s songs being better by default in Japanese. With the Kingdom Hearts songs, I always preferred the Japanese versions, because the English lyrics sometimes felt too clunky, and rhythmically and melodically the songs just didn’t sound as good as their Japanese counterparts. Hikaru’s voice also just didn’t sound as good in English. But with “Face My Fears”, that all changed, because I can’t stand the Japanese version of that song. And in the case of “Find Love”, the English song on the album, it absolutely shits all over the Japanese version. Hikaru has finally found a way to approach their songs in English in a way where they don’t come off like after thoughts, or as though something is missing, and it’s fucking glorious. I personally have never felt a burning need for another English language album from Hikaru Utada. So I’m glad that Hikaru Utada has consolidated the musical stylings of Hikaru Utada and Utada, and that going forward we may just get an English song or two on an album as standard. Def Jam never cared about a bitch anyway. And it’s clear ever since Hikaru Utada moved over to Sony, that there has been a concerted effort from the record label to position Hikaru as a global artist.

Hikaru Utada - Bad Mode | © 2022 Sony Music Labels Inc. | Image courtesy of hikaruutada_jp

Bad Mode also highlights how unconsciously on the pulse of things Hikaru manages to be without even trying. With the exceptions of maybe Distance and This is the One, Hikaru has always gone with whichever sounds have moved them in the moment - with no real concern for chart trends and where any of their songs will sit commercially. And yet, still, Bad Mode feels like it fits so perfectly in the company of what is happening in music right now. “Bad Mode” being a city pop cut adheres to the current global trend of disco, whilst also catering to the online popularity of city pop itself. And the likes of “Find Love” and “Somewhere Near Marseille” fold nicely into the current commercial resurgence of club music. Hearing Weedkaru Diazepamtada on a disco, city pop sounding song for “Bad Mode” feels right. Hearing Housekaru Clubtada ride a four on the floor club record and not miss a beat feels right. Hearing them sing about wanting to get their back blown out in Europe over a 12 minute chilled house cut feels right. And as is the case with all of Hikaru Utada’s albums from Deep River onward, Bad Mode won’t age or get time stamped for shit.

But one of the biggest shockers of Bad Mode for me wasn’t hearing Hikaru sing about drugs, drop an F-bomb, or release a song so long in length that even Giorgio Moroder would gasp. It was how Bad Mode managed to really hold together as an ALBUM, and not just a collection of singles.

I won’t talk in depth about the singles, as I’d reviewed them individually. In short, I really liked “Dare no mo Iwanai” and “One Last Kiss”, but wasn’t all that keen on “Time”, “Pink Blood” or “Kimi ni Muchuu” - which is why I was initially disappointed when the tracklist for the album was revealed. But the singles work far better as part of an album than they ever did on their own. I didn’t think I’d have any reason to listen to Bad Mode from top to bottom and wondered if I should even bother. But the singles made sense when I did. And it also made me realise that Bad Mode is one of Hikaru’s best sequenced albums. It just flows so well from start to finish. Even “Face My Fears” manages to fit on this album, and not sound like some outlier. I know a lot of y’all hated that Kingdom Hearts 3 song, but I liked it and still like it. I think the disdain that has built for Skrillex over the years has many people disliking the song for that reason, and not the quality of the song itself. I just wish the English version was included within the main tracklist and not the Japanese version, which is nowhere near as good. And as much as “Face My Fears” fits the album, I do wish more was changed with it, just to make it feel fresher. But I guess we can all look to the A.G Cook remix for that. And a fine remix it is too. Although the Live from Air Studios version of “Face My Fears” is even better. And once again, gives Exodus vibes.

Hikaru Utada - Bad Mode | © 2022 Sony Music Labels Inc. | Image courtesy of toonznista

The production on Bad Mode is a mixed bag when you look at songs individually. But as an album, it’s tight. There are definitely inconsistencies between the production quality from song to song though, which seems to be based on who was on production duties with Hikaru. The Floating Points productions are the best. Hands down. Not up for debate. “Bad Mode”, “Kibun Ja Nai no” and “Somewhere Near Marseille” all sound rich, layered, feature gorgeous instrumentation and feel like experiences. Each of them feels like a journey in a way none of the others do. And they also take Hikaru to places that they’ve not gone before. “Bad Mode” sounding like a classic city pop record. “Kibun Ja Nai no” being a jazzy, trip-hoppy jam, with a transitional moment which made me feel like my soul left my body. I’mma need Floating Points and Hikaru to work together again for a whole album.

The songs helmed by A.G. Cook and Nariaki Obukuro are a mixed bag. “One Last Kiss” sounds great, and you can clearly identify A.G. Cook’s touch, which helps finesse the whole thing. But I don’t know what happened on “Kimi Ni Muchuu”, which just sounds a little too basic and rough around the edges, to a point where I feel like something is missing. The touch that A.G. Cook blessed “One Last Kiss” with, he certainly didn’t have it here. It’s a similar situation with “Pink Blood” and “Time”, which both sound like songs Nariaki couldn’t be bothered to tighten up. But then “Find Love” sounds so full, sharp and complete, which makes me even more confused as to why Nariaki didn’t give “Pink Blood” and “Time” what he gave “Find Love”. I like that Hikaru Utada is working with a range of producers, but I do wish there was more consistency across Bad Mode in terms of polish. I kinda wish Hikaru had just handed all of the songs to Floating Points and said ‘Fix these’. Even if it were just for the album versions, which would have helped eased the disappointment fans felt at the realisation that so little of this album was actually new. The inconsistencies with production has been a problem for me since Fantôme, where “Michi” sounded like The Artist’s Son’s first Garageband beat, versus songs like “Hanataba wo Kimi ni” and “Tomodachi”, which sounded so polished and rich. And it was also a problem on Hatsukoi, where “Forevermore”, “Anata” and “Good Night” all sounded lush, whilst “Play a Love Song” sounded like the music on a 50p rocket ride for kids.

Hikaru Utada always manages to show musical growth from album to album, and Bad Mode is no exception. Bad Mode theoretically is an album about reconciling with the past to move forward and better yourself, and this also applies to how Hikaru approached the music. Exodus is an album which has been poking through in every album Hikaru has put out since 2004, but it fully bursts though on Bad Mode. The same frankness, honesty, boldness and willingness to just say what they want to say, regardless of how they’ll be judged - Hikaru channels all of that with their songwriting on Bad Mode. And as a producer Hikaru continues to be fearless. Not adhering to current chart trends. Not caring about what will seem cool to the general public. Not trying to be J-pop. Not trying to be any one thing in particular. Not worrying about song lengths to play the streaming game that all these other artists wanna play with their 2 minute songs. Not being concerned about song structures having to be conventional. Not being afraid to let a song just meander and have an instrumental moment. Hikaru isn’t giving us anything majorly different from what they’ve given us before, and yet it still manages to feel new. Because the steps forward that Hikaru takes here are in every aspect of their being, their artistry and creativity, it shifts their music forward pretty significantly, but not to a point where it feels alienating, or any aspect of Hikaru feels or sounds unrecognisable - just as the case with Fantôme. Even in moments like “Face Your Fears”, which initially felt very un-Hikaru, it is still very much a Hikaru Utada song, which the A.G. Cook remix highlights. If you isolate the Skrillex-ness of the song and focus on just the melody, it’s a Hikaru Utada song through and through.

Hikaru Utada - Bad Mode | © 2022 Sony Music Labels Inc. | Image courtesy of toonznista

Bad Mode hit me like a bit of a truck when I first listened to it. A slow moving truck. But still a truck. Because my initial reaction was one that I’d only felt with two of Hikaru’s albums. Deep River and Ultra Blue. Both albums felt like huge shifts for Hikaru Utada, and felt like they were chartering a course for future releases, which could take Hikaru anywhere and everywhere they wanted to do, and I feel the same way about Bad Mode. Hikaru’s next album could go anywhere. I have no idea where, but I know I want to be around to see where.

Based on the singles, I honestly had pretty low expectations for this album. So I was pleasantly surprised when I heard the whole thing, that it not only sounded like a full body of work, but that it made me like some of the singles more. I do however wish that some of the singles went through some tweaks and revisions for the album. Given that Floating Points worked on “Bad Mode” and two of the album cuts, I can assume that he was brought into the fold pretty late in the development of the album. But regardless, I think additional production from Floating Points on the likes of “Kimi ni Muchuu”, “Pink Blood” and “Time” would have helped tighten them up and tie the album together just a tad more. Floating Points’ style of production would lend itself well to these songs in particular, as his style is very vibey, and he isn’t afraid of placing lots of space in a song, but still finding ways to make those moments feel layered and textured. “Time” especially would have benefitted from his touch, as it’s such a bare bones song which does things Floating Points could, would and has done better.

Bad Mode may not be Hikaru’s best produced album, but it is definitely one of their best structured, and most consistent thematically. And the fact that Bad Mode feels so whole as an album makes up for some of the production shortcomings of some of the singles. It also helps that the album starts and ends strong, with its best productions. Versus Fantôme which opened with “Michi”, and Hatsukoi which opened with “Play a Love Song”.

The biggest draw of this album for me is that it feels like Hikaru Utada has had a bunch of awakenings and realisations, and that these have managed to manifest into their approach to music. The scope of not just Hikaru Utada’s music, but all that they could do off the back of it feels so broad again, in a way it did WAAAAAY back. It’s like Hikaru found their way back to themselves, after years of life changes which could have taken them down very different paths. And as a fan, I feel proud that Hikaru has reached a point in their life where they seem a little freer than they were before. Where they’re able to grasp things which were out of reach before. And that the lonely road they were walking 6 years ago seems a little less lonely, because mine does too.

Verdict: I train with Hikki 3 to 5 times a week

Highlights:
▪ Bad Mode 🔥
▪ Kimi ni Muchuu
▪ Find Love 🔥
▪ One Last Kiss
▪ Kibun Ja Nai no 🏆
▪ Dare ni mo Iwanai 🔥
▪ Somewhere Near Marseilles 🔥