This event will be held to celebrate the release of Hikaru Utada’s first all-time best album “SCIENCE FICTION” to commemorate the 25th anniversary of her debut. With the release of “Automatic (2024 Mix)” and “Somewhere Near Marseilles -Marseille Around- (Sci-Fi Edit)” from the album, which has been a hot topic and attracting attention every day, we will air all of Hikaru Utada’s songs, mainly from the best album. Hikaru Utada’s staff will also participate in this event and will comment on the songs and provide anecdotes. Anyone can join the lounge for free, and if you download the AWA app in advance, you can enjoy making requests and chatting with others. Please enjoy the AWA Lounge featuring Hikaru Utada.
*The artist himself is not scheduled to appear.
■ Overview of Utada Hikaru Special on LOUNGE
Date and time: Sunday, April 14, 2024 21:00-22:30
*The event may be canceled at short notice.
▼Participation URL
https://mf.awa.fm/open_utadahikaru_0414_pr
■ Utada Hikaru
Singer-songwriter
Born January 19, 1983
Her debut single “Automatic/time will tell” released on December 9, 1998, sold over a million copies, and at the age of 15, she quickly became one of the top artists.
Just a few months later, their first album, “First Love,” was released and set a new record for CD sales in Japan, a record that still stands today.
Since then, all of their albums have topped the charts, and in 2007, their single “Flavor Of Life” set a world download record.
In 2010, they declared that they were “active as a human being” and went on a temporary hiatus, but in April 2016, they began to fully launch their careers as artists with the release of the digital singles “A Bouquet for You” and “Manatsu no Toori Shower.”
Her sixth original album “Fantôme,” released in September 2016, was her first to top the Oricon charts for four consecutive weeks, ranked third on iTunes in the United States, and achieved a million CD and digital sales combined, receiving high praise both from within Japan and overseas.
In March 2017, she moved to EPIC Records Japan. On Wednesday, June 27, 2018, the 20th anniversary of her debut, she released her seventh album, “Hatsukoi,” and embarked on her first nationwide tour of Japan since restarting her activities. The tour was filmed as “Hikaru Utada Laughter in the Dark Tour 2018.”
In 2019, she released “Face My Fears,” the theme song for the video game “KINGDOM HEARTS III.” This song, which she co-wrote with Skrillex, became her first song to reach the US Billboard Top 100.
On March 10, 2021, she released an EP featuring her new song “One Last Kiss,” co-produced by AG Cook, as well as her first self-cover “Beautiful World (Da Capo Version).” Both songs have been chosen as the theme songs for the new Evangelion movie.
On November 26, 2021, the theme song for the TBS Friday drama “Saiai,” “Kimi ni Muchuu,” was released digitally. It became a hit on streaming and download platforms both in Japan and overseas.
On January 19, 2022, she released her eighth original album, “BAD MODE,” digitally. On the same day, she held her first paid live concert, “Hikaru Utada Live Sessions from Air Studios.”
The CD album will be released on February 23rd, and the vinyl version on April 27th. To coincide with the release of the vinyl version of BAD MODE, all eight of their original albums will be released on vinyl.
On April 16th (local time), he made a guest appearance on the “88rising’s Head in the Clouds Forever” stage at the Coachella Festival 2022 in California, USA. It was his first performance at a music festival.
In July 2022, Hikaru Utada appeared in the campaign video for “CARTIER TRINITY FOR CHITOSE ABE OF sacai.”
“Somewhere Near Marseilles” has been chosen as the campaign song. The song ranked 10th in “The 100 Best Songs of 2022” by the overseas music media “Pitchfork Media”, and was also selected as one of the top 10 on sites such as slantmagazine.com and Brooklyn Vegan.
On November 24th, the NETFLIX series “First Love Hatsukoi”, inspired by the two songs “First Love” and “Hatsukoi”, was released worldwide, becoming a hot topic not only in Japan but also in Asian countries and regions. On December 9th, the first 7-inch analog record “First Love” was released, and at the same time, the first Dolby Atmos versions of “First Love (2022 Mix)” and “Hatsukoi” were also released digitally. On Thursday, January 19th, 2023, the annual online event “40s Are All About Things” will be held.
On Friday, July 28, 2023, he released “Gold ~Until We Meet Again~”, the theme song for the movie “Kingdom: Flame of Destiny”. A month later, he released “Gold ~Until We Meet Again~ (Taku’s Twice Upon a Time Remix)”, which ranked highly on charts both in Japan and overseas.
The band will celebrate their 25th anniversary since their debut on Saturday, December 9, 2023, and have announced that their first greatest hits album of 2024, “SCIENCE FICTION,” will be released on April 10, as well as their first nationwide tour in six years, “SCIENCE FICTION TOUR 2024.”
■App Overview
AWA is a subscription-based music streaming service provided by AWA Inc., a joint venture between CyberAgent Inc. and Avex Fan Marketing Inc. The service was launched in May 2015 and offers 140 million songs and approximately 13 million playlists created by celebrities and users. In addition to the Standard Plan, which offers full access to all features for a monthly fee of 980 yen (tax included), the Free Plan, which offers all features free of charge except for offline playback, the Student Plan, which is available for junior high school students and above for a monthly fee of 480 yen (tax included), and the Artist Plan, which allows unlimited listening to selected artists for a monthly fee of 270 yen (tax included). AWA is compatible with a variety of devices, including smartphones, PCs, TVs, car navigation systems, wearable devices, and smart speakers. Since its launch, the service has expanded to include a variety of plans and features to meet the needs of users and their viewing environments, such as “LYRIC DIVE,” a feature that beautifully animates lyrics in real time to match the music, and “LOUNGE,” an online space where users can enjoy the same music in the same space in real time with live audio streaming and gifting features, and has grown into one of Japan’s largest music streaming services.
Name: “AWA”https://awa.fm/
Recommended environment:
Price: STANDARD plan (980 yen/month including tax) / FREE plan (free/month) / Student plan (480 yen/month including tax) / Artist plan (270 yen/month including tax *unlimited listening to one specific artist)
Available from: May 27, 2015
■URL
AWA:https://awa.fm/
App Store:https://itunes.apple.com/jp/app/id980578855
Google Play:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fm.awa.liverpool
Desktop app:https://awa.fm/download/
AWA LOUNGE Browser version:https://app.awa.fm/lounge/
AWA latest information:https://news.awa.fm/
AWA Official Twitter:https://twitter.com/awa_official?lang=ja
AWA Official LINE:https://lin.ee/21w3f0k
■Company Profile
Company name: AWA Co., Ltd. (pronounced: awa)
Address: Sumitomo Real Estate Azabu-Juban Building, 1-4-1 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Akimi Togashi, CEO
Business description: Music streaming services, etc.
Established: December 1, 2014
■ Contact Information
AWA Public Relations: press@awa.fm
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