The thought of reviewing Utada Hikaru’s latest English album This is the one was exciting. Not only did the album cover sticker boast: “More than 50 million records sold worldwide” and a “hit-makin’ production team who also produced for Ne-Yo and Rihanna”. It has also been a good 5 years since her last English album Exodus was released, as the New York-born artiste had moved on to concentrate on the Japanese market and produced albums Ultra Blue and Heart Station in the interim.

The 10-track album consists mainly of slow numbers that Utada is well recognised for, in particular the song “First Love”, released in an album with the same title that still holds the record of being the all-time best selling album in Japan. It seems like she decided to play safe this time round with R&B tracks and ballads that was well received in her recent Japanese releases such as “Flavor of Life” which was awarded Single of the Year in the 22nd Japan Gold Disc Awards last year.

The 26-year-old who takes pride in being a singer-songwriter, penned all the tracks in This is the one. One song that particularly stood out was “Dirty Desire”, which has a disco beat to it that you can shake and dance along to. It’s a real pick-me-up after listening to 7 similar-sounding and very slow tracks before it.

Another song that caught my attention was “Automatic Part II” that refers to one of her highly popular songs “Automatic”, which was released as a single in 1998 with another classic hit “Time Will Tell”. In it, Utada tells the listener more about herself, asking you to learn more about her through myspace and her newsletter, and that she ‘used to be a Virgin’, referring to her previous record label, and has now switched to Island Def Jam.

The hit single ‘Come Back To Me’ has potential to be a karaoke favourite with its catchy tune and simple lyrics such as ‘Everything I ever did/Heaven knows I’m sorry but/I was too dumb to see/you were always there for me’. It’s a perfect outlet for lovers to admit a mistake or wrongdoing and make the first move to patch up with their significant other.

On the down side, “Come Back To Me” like many other tracks had boringly repetitive lyrics that discouraged repeated listening and makes one wonder if Utada has such a limited vocabulary. She repeats ‘So simple and innocent’ and ‘Like apple and cinnamon’ 3 times each in the chorus of ‘Apple and Cinnamon’, ‘Baby come back to me’ in every other line for all of 4 times in ‘Come Back to Me’, ‘But I’m takin’ my money back’ in ‘Takin’ My Money Back’, and the list goes ‘on and on’ just like the title of the last track. Maybe that was why no lyrics were included with the CD.

Discounting Utada the lyricist, Utada the singer definitely lived up to expectations of a best-selling Japanese artiste whose recent achievements include a Best 5 Albums award in The 23rd Japan Gold Disc Awards for Heart Station. So if you’re a big fan of her unique vocals and impressive range, this album is still worth your hard-earned money. As for this UrbanWire reviewer, I’m takin’ my money back to save up for her next Japanese single.

Title: This is the one
Artiste: Utada Hikaru
Genre: R&B
Release date: May 12, 2009