Okay, so Utada’s 2004 English only album Exodus didn’t do so great. Besides a brief club hit for her first single Devil Inside, the album reminded people more of Bjork than of the mega-popstar sound that people expect from her string of Japanese albums — Utada herself called Exodus experimental electronica in a recent audio interview she did with the Gossip Girls.
But all that’s about to change — in theory, since we know how hard it is from anyone Asian to break out in US Radio — with her upcoming album This Is The One, to be released in March. Gone are the Easy Breezy videos where she’s dolled up in a bikini and a see-through tarp in a rainstorm, to be replaced with a Great Gatsby-esque video for her lead-in single, Come Back to Me.
While the song itself is kinda lackluster for me — me and mid-tempo ballads have never gotten along — you’ll want to check out her iLike page, where there is an audio track of another single, the weirdly titled Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence – FYI. If the intro of the song sounds familiar, it’s because it samples Watergate’s Heart of Asia, also known as “that fucking song you danced to until 9am when you went to that underground rave in 2001.” If you told me my favorite J-Pop artist would come out with a mainstream song that samples a trance anthem that still gives me Ecstasy flashbacks to this day, I would have hid under a desk and cried. But the single is actually really, really good — enough for me to make the whole album a definite download when it comes out in a couple of weeks.
(Hat tip: Slant Eye for the Round Eye)
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4 Comments to “Music that Doesn’t Suck: Utada’s “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence – FYI””
Phở Kinh Yue wrote:
I’ve heard that beat used in several songs, just never really took the time to research that is was by WaterGate.
I think that Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence song would have been a better first single to release. Up-tempo/dance/club songs have always been a good choice as a first single for a while now when it comes to mainstream. However, for Utada and other Asian artists I still have yet to hear any songs that really have that catch.
I think this possibly could be due to their producers. If I was an Asian artist that had a choice to pick any producer to collaborate with, I’d probably choose either Akon or Ne-Yo. They have made a lot of hits already.
Also I’m not quite sure how Utada popular is even now, even with Asian-Americans.
Posted on 11-Mar-09 at 12:26 am | Permalink
Tunah wrote:
Both WaterGate and Utada Hikaru samples Ryuichi Sakamoto’s piano piece Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, actually.
In reply to the previous comment, Utada Hikaru has worked with Ne-Yo, resulting in a duet released only internationally for Ne-Yo’s latest album.
Even with the upcoming wave of asian musical artists this year in the US, I doubt there will be much mainstream success until further in the future. Even pop princess BoA settled for a small stage performance in LA just recently.
I just stumbled on this blog today.
It’s a good read.
Posted on 11-Mar-09 at 5:53 am | Permalink
Phở Kinh Yue wrote:
Ya I know Utada and Ne-Yo have worked together, but when I mention Ne-Yo as a producer that is meaning having input on the entire album not just one single. But then again, perhaps Utada is looking at a different direction with her music than what is popular in the mainstream today.
There actually has been success for Asians in music, but most of the artists are either not the lead or are not really noticed as “Asians”.
Posted on 11-Mar-09 at 3:39 pm | Permalink
lee wrote:
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence is the title of the main soundtrack from the movie with the same title and starred by David Bowie and by the composer himself, Ryuichi Sakamoto. This song was also used by David Sylvian’s Forbidden Colors (the vocal version), Indonesia’s Anggun, Watergate’s Heart of Asia and now Utada.
Posted on 14-Mar-09 at 5:41 am | Permalink
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