Hayakawa Kanako
Translated by Mandilinn
2015.05.01
Once again, many people will be surprised by her. After nearly two years, Namie has announced her original album “_genic”. It is a complation of 13 entirely new songs with her firm stance and style that she has built up and trust out there, challenging the 2015 music scene brilliantly.
After her previous approach to EDM with “FEEL”, this time she focuses on high-energy 80’s dance beats, a new wave sound, and goes back to the roots of her own music with a 90’s hip-hop, R&B, and house “revival”. One after another, overseas artists such as Pharrell Williams, Ariana Grande, Iggy Azalea, and Azalea Banks have come out with a 90’s-feeling sound in recent years, and “revival” is said to be one of 2015’s keywords for music.
The 80’s+90’s revival sound of “_genic” is made up of works from Eric Lidbom, who is known for his work with Alexandra Stan, singer-songwriter Nikki Flores, who is known for her tracks for Christina Aguilera and Nas, James “KEYZ” Foye, who has worked with Beyonce, Sean Paul, and Omarion, Hiten Bharadia, who had a hand in the world-renowned EDM DJ Tiësto’s hit song “Echoes”, and Joacim Persson, who has done music for Kylie Minogue. The album also features work by SOPHIE of the UK underground world who did songs for Madonna and Diplo, along with work from Seventyeight Productions, who has done work for singers Kerli and Loreen. Including ZEDD, the world’s leading domestic and international creators worked one after another to create something edgy and distinct for Namie Amuro this time.
In addition to the other songs, the album also includes a special track–top DJ/producer of dance music/house David Guetta’s hit song “What I Did For Love”. The collaboration between the two had been in the works for some time, and the offer came from Guetta’s side. Guetta has an attachment to the song off his latest album “Listen”, and it’s one of Amuro’s favorite songs as well, so they re-recorded “What I did For Love” with Amuro’s vocals. The gospel-style sound and Amuro-chan’s soulful vocals along with the piano riffs paint a strong and beautiful image. The miracle collaboration of two superstars was achieved at last.
Also, the underscore in the album title “_genic” applies to different terms for Namie Amuro. Something like “Popgenic” would represent her continuing to clear a path in the cutting-edge pop scene, “Photogenic” is suitable to describe her beauty as she continues to decorate the covers of many fashion magazines, and “Livegenic” summerizes her natural gift for dancing and singing. Of course, it is also an homage to her musical DNA and roots in 90’s groove, and it also could be a word to symbloize her life and continued fascination with the era. This time the majority of the lyrics are in English, however with the intention of firmly wanting convey their meaning, the lyrics are printed in two languages in the album booklet. With many startling and sensational phrases and without reading too much into it, this work speaks of secret pleasure.
With the world’s cutting-edge sounds and beats, the pop gene penetrates through the ages. As always, Namie Amuro significantly exceeded expectations.