Hikaru Utada Releases New Album Bad Mode
ALBUM FEATURES RECENT HIT SINGLES AS WELL AS SIX NEW SONGS AND
COLLABORATIONS WITH SKRILLEX, A.G. COOK, FLOATING POINTS & MORE
HIKARU UTADA LIVE SESSIONS FROM AIR STUDIOS
ONLINE CONCERT EVENT DEBUTS TODAY AND IS AVAILABLE TO STREAM
FOR LIMITED TIME ONLY – INFO & TICKETS HERE
NEW YORK, NY (Wednesday, January 19) – Global J-pop superstar HIKARU UTADA today releases new album BAD MODE – available everywhere now via Milan Records. BAD MODE features Utada's recent chart-topping hits like “One Last Kiss” and “Face My Fears” as well as six never-before-released songs in both English and Japanese. Featured collaborators on the album include megaproducer Skrillex, Floating Points' Sam Shepherd and PC Music Founder A.G. Cook, who also contributes a new remix of “Face My Fears” as an album bonus track. Utada celebrates the album's release with HIKARU UTADA LIVE SESSIONS FROM AIR STUDIOS, an online concert event featuring performances of the new music recorded at the legendary London recording studio. The event is available to stream now until Sunday, January 23 – additional information and tickets can be found here.
Available everywhere now, BAD MODE ushers in yet another new chapter in the evolution of their already massive career. A culmination of the last three years, the 14-track collection includes a string of chart-topping singles like “One Last Kiss,” co-produced by A.G. Cook as the theme song to EVANGELION:3.0+1.0 THRICE UPON A TIME, “PINK BLOOD,” the theme to TV anime To Your Eternity, “Time,” the main theme to Japanese TV drama Bishoku Tantei Akechi Gorō, “Darenimo Iwanai,” featured in a campaign for Japanese mineral water SUNTORY Tennensui and more. 2019's global hit song “Face My Fears,” which was written alongside producers Skrillex and Poo Bear as the opening song to action role-playing game KINGDOM HEARTS Ⅲ, is also featured on the album in both Japanese and English language versions of the original song and as a new, never-before-released remix version by A.G. Cook. The PC Music founder also features as a co-producer on Utada's newest single “Kimini Muchuu,” released in November alongside the album's initial announcement – watch the music video here.
Elsewhere, BAD MODE will include six brand new songs, including title track “BAD MODE,” one of three songs produced in collaboration with English producer and musician Sam Shepherd aka Floating Points, who also contributes to “Kibunja Naino (Not In The Mood)” and “Somewhere Near Marseilles.” The official music video for “BAD MODE,” directed by Joe Conner, debuts in full today alongside album release – watch here. The video is one of three new visuals released today, arriving alongside performance videos for “Face My Fears” and “Find Love” featuring footage from the concert special. Utada's first track fully written in English since 2019, “Find Love” features as the theme song to SHISEIDO's latest global campaign “POWER IS YOU” for new ULTIMUNE™ Power Infusing Concentrate. Hikaru Utada is included as an ambassador for the campaign alongside American soccer star Megan Rapinoe and Spanish actress Úrsula Corberó, each representing the power of beauty within to transform society for the better. Additional information surrounding the campaign and Utada's involvement can be found HERE.
HIKARU UTADA LIVE SESSIONS FROM AIR STUDIOS premieres today alongside album release and Hikaru Utada's birthday and is now available to stream through Sunday, January 23, 2022. Recorded at London's legendary Air Studios, the concert is a first for Utada, who has gathered a group of renowned musicians led by bassist Jodi Milliner, bandmaster for Utada's 2018 tour, to perform music from the new album. The concert was recorded and mixed by sound engineer Steve Fitzmaurice, who also worked on the new album, and directed by David Barnard, whose filmography includes Radiohead's "In Rainbows - From Basement" and Eric Clapton's "LOCKDOWN SESSIONS." Additional details surrounding the concert and ticketing information can be found at the official website HERE.
Debuting on Hikaru Utada's birthday, BAD MODE marks their eighth studio album and arrives alongside a special website dedicated to the new release. The website celebrates the album and Hikaru Utada's loyal fanbase, with individual pages for each of the album's 14 tracks featuring messages from fans and special stories – link here.
HIKARU UTADA – BAD MODE
ALBUM TRACKLISTING –
- BAD MODE
- Kimini Muchuu
- One Last Kiss
- PINK BLOOD
- Time
- Kibunja Naino (Not In The Mood)
- Darenimo Iwanai
- Find Love
- Face My Fears (Japanese Version) – Hikaru Utada & Skrillex
- Somewhere Near Marseilles
- Beautiful World (Da Capo Version)**
- Kireina Hito (Find Love)**
- Face My Fears (English Version) – Hikaru Utada & Skrillex**
- Face My Fears (A.G. Cook Remix)**
**Bonus Tracks
HIKARU UTADA LIVE SESSIONS FROM AIR STUDIOS*
AVAILABLE NOW until Sunday, January 23 at 11:59 PM JST / 9:59 AM EST / 6:59 AM PST
OFFICIAL WEBSITE FOR TICKETS & INFO: https://www.utadahikaru.jp/livesessions2022/en/
Presented by U3MUSIC / Sony Music Labels Epic Records Japan
Sponsored by Shiseido Company, Limited (SHISEIDO GINZA TOKYO) / KINGDOM HEARTS / SUNTORY / Sony Group Corporation
Filming Equipment Provided by Sony Group Corporation
ABOUT HIKARU UTADA
Born in the United States to Japanese parents, Hikaru Utada is a singer/songwriter and producer.
Utada's debut album First Love was released in 1999 and was an instant success, becoming the country's best-selling album of all time, and still holding the honor to this day. The success of the album led to Utada being featured on the cover of the 2001 "Music Goes Global" issue of TIME alongside U2's Bono and Bjork, and by the end of the 2000s, Utada was deemed "the most influential artist of the decade" in the Japanese music landscape by The Japan Times. Utada's commercial success has made the musician one of Japan's top-selling recording artists of all time with over 37 million albums sold.
Utada announced a hiatus from their music career in 2010 to focus on personal growth before returning in April 2016. The international audience will recognize Utada's contribution to the Square Enix/Disney video game series Kingdom Hearts, where the musician wrote and produced theme songs for each game in the series. "Face My Fears," the most recent 2019 collaboration with Skrillex and the opening theme for KINGDOM HEARTS III, charted in the Billboard Top 100. Utada's 2021 single and EVANGELION:3.0+1.0 THRICE UPON A TIME theme song, "One Last Kiss," charted in 33 countries and regions worldwide as well as the Spotify Global Viral Chart.
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