Wow seems like Max came to the studio.

I wonder if this album will be produced by him? Actually does anyone know the last time one of her albums said "produced by max Matsura"? I can't remember haha

Yeah that whole process was just not great. There is a way to do surprise releases and also releases with short notice and I don't trust her team with it.



Honestly I'm in no rush for this album. I'm happy that I've had to wait this long as it's refreshing to have some time in between releases and just appreciate what she has. Also I hope she actually takes her time with this release and doesn't feel pressure to rush. I just really want to see quality production and great imagery as well. It doesn't have to be extravagant to be great either (I doubt she has a crazy budget anyway). I loved Made in Japan, I just wish everything was a little more put together.

I do miss having the album come out slowly with singles first, then previews of the album songs, then the album. It was a nice way to always feel like you had "something" instead of months of nothing and then everything all at once.

What I miss the most though is quality music videos. Surreal, Endless Sorrow, forgiveness, Carols, Jewel, GREEN, Part of Me, etc. They just all had so much imagery and symbolism and it felt like a coherent theme instead of just "Here's Ayu in a room singing". I get that her budget for them probably is nowhere near what it used to be, but I've seen other artists do a lot more with a lot less.

It’s exciting and surprising his involvement this time ! Should we expect something different this time around ?? I hope so :)

I used Google translate on that and I thought it said she was shooting a music video lol glad that was cleared up

^ it says filming, or taking pictures.
So it's probably for a video or photo shoot.

But Max was there lol.

Oh wow, if it's a video I wonder if we'll get a single soon. That would be nice.

Don't all of her albums say that?

I would love a surprise drop if it's like Beyoncé's - with videos, covers and physical release close to the digital one. another one like MIJ? no, thank you!

^^ really??

It used to be quite obvious on the back cover, iirc. Maybe they've moved it in the booklet and I've just forgotten?

For some reason I really thought her recent albums no longer say it...

Right!! We got teased so much back then. I also think that’s a better flow for an album. The concept gets more understood that way. As suppose to the whole concept introduced all at once. But she’s trying something different and after the greatness of party queen I’m all for it. :P

All her albums say “Produced by Max Matsuura”.

Except concert DVD/Blu-ray (I only check on AT 2015 & CDL14-15), it says “All produced by Ayumi Hamasaki” from the beginning and at the end of all personnel list, it says “Produced by Max Matsuura”.

Now I'm curious as to why I thought they didn't xD
Well, anyway, it's nice to see he's taking an interest in what she's doing lol.

I remember max said, on one occasion, that it might as well say produced by ayumi hamasaki...I guess he doesn’t do much for her nowdays.

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🐝🎼🎙Studio day🎙🎼🐝
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妹のワンピにバレンシアガ羽織って、あやのQueen Beeミュール履いてパワーもらってる💪✨✨✨
#NewAlbum
#明日から仙台🚄

she's indeed working all the time. I'm so curious to hear it! ♥

She was in studio with tasuku, and... Nobi 太大? idk who that is.

I like tasuku's work, so I'm happy.

Tasuku has arranged some of my faves songs so I'm happy! :yes

Nobita = Yuta Nakano. She used to call him that like all the time but stopped when she didn't update as much.

YUTA NAKANO!! oh hell yes..i sense a nostalgic sound coming

Wow! Even better! :luv2

I kinda wished she would work with different people this time, but I hope they give her something fresh. I like tasuku!

Yuta Nakano and tasuku are tired.

They will likely produce good music, but it may not be that fresh or interesting. Or innovative for that matter, which is unfortunate because a lot of artists in this era have adapted different sounds to their music. And although it's not always great, if done well, it could be so good. I loved A One and Made in Japan so I would probably still enjoy whatever they produce, but sometimes I just wish for something just a little off. And not Colours, because it was somewhat tacky and felt like it was late to the trend and therefore dated.

For example, Ai Otsuka's last two albums felt so fresh to me, and although not every song was perfect, I thought she adapted very well and made projects that were so pretty.

Anyway, my ramblings may not make much sense because it's hard to put my thoughts into words. And I know what to generally expect from ayu and how to enjoy and appreciate it even if I wish for something else. But maybe this is why i dont feel like she needs to release anytime soon.

^ Agreed. Hopefully there is more diversity in her collaborators this time around, but I am not holding my breath.

Can anyone help me remember what hits Yuta Nakano produced for her?

And tasuku? I always see him as just the 'interlude guy'... did he ever produce a full song for her, or are we most likely to expect the next taskeblabla?

After I saw this I was also wondering what songs they've been involved in and after looking it up it seems they're on nearly all albums going pretty far back though some feature them more heavily than others, such as A One and Love again. They've both done songs I love and some I don't like as much so I don't know what to expect but it will probably be a familiar sound.

Tasku imo is able to make a lot of layered songs, so it'd be great if he could make full songs for her more.

^ I agree! but Yuta Nakano is so tired. I agree with everything primavera said.

they're pretty much all over her past releases. they heavily contributed to MIJ and A ONE. also yes, tasuku produced a lot of songs for her aside from interludes!

tasuku and Yuta arranged nearly all the songs on her previous 3 albums. There are a lot of gems there.

Yuta Nakano
talkin' 2 myself, decision
Mirrorcle World
EnergizE, rollin', identity, LOVE 'n' HATE
Microphone, Don't look back, Sexy little things
progress, ANother song feat. URATA NAOYA
reminds me
Song 4 u*, untitled for her... story 2
Tell All
* + Hinata Spring

Oh no, Nakano again?
I hope he can offer some fresh work this time and not the same arrangements all over again...

Looking at the list he produced some very diverse stuff for her.

Last time she worked with a new composer we got TODAY lol am I wrong?

Yes! Sunrise/Sunset was also by a new composer (but that was the end of her in Ayu's career lol)

There was DJ Hello Kitty too ^^

Those are actually pretty good. I was afraid someone was gonn say 'Anything for you' and likewise snoozefests.
Or something like the Show must go on... I rather want to turn deaf immediately then going through that hell again.

Aside from what was already listed. Nakano arranged everything on Love Again except for Wake Me Up, Snowy Kiss, and Bye-Bye Darling, and You & Me which were all tasuku.

He also arranged Anything for You and many other songs on A One but the composers were different. He does a lot of both for ayu. Tasuku arranged the Show Must Go On and some other songs on A One as well like Warning. Aside from Saynora, they both arranged everything on sixxxxxx.

Tasuku did recently produce Mad World. And they both did the arrangements for everything except Today. I think all of the above info is correct but feel free to correct me if it's wrong.

I wouldn't mind Shun Ueno and whoever arranged TODAY doing something else. That's one of her most listenable songs in that style to me and flows so well and still feels fresh and sweet to me. If she wanted songs in that style...which will probably happen.

Yuta Nakano produced almost all A ONE, so...

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The same nostalgic sound from the last albums :no

This is gonna be worst than I expected first Timmy and now those two rusty boys... :(

I have believed she was searching for something new and fresh but no she's always with the same old peoples...

Ah, so that explain why I have find this album to be really boring.

I'm not happy at all with this news Nakano seems to live in another time the last songs he made for Ayu sounds like it was scrapped from old sessions in 1999 2003 and not the best ones.

Tell All was awful and if it's for having another rock uninspired music with all the instruments making some noise at the same time or generic romantic ballad it without me.

I'm really tired of her always doing the easy way...

As much as I didn't really like that much Kumi since WOML, she at least tried to do something new.

so the new album is highly with intro - music only from Tasuku

All will depend from the direction or the style Ayu want for this album .... Tasaku and Yuta Nakano are really versatile ! I still hope they are not responsible of the entire production of this album ... I really liked A one and MIJ but something different is welcome lol

The likelihood is really high for Yukumi, tasuku, Timmy, and Yuta compositions. I don't really expect 'new' people to work with her but composition-wise I think she tends to have like at least one person that is out of the ordinary.

TODAY was kinda unique on MIJ 'cause "HAL" basically arranged it but not under the HAL name and a new person composed it. I wonder if she'll ever wrangle CMJK back to work with her or if he's too busy doing some other projects.

https://www.instagram.com/shunueno_tokyo/?hl=en

It kinda looks like Shun Ueno's 'big break' was TODAY since he doesn't seem to have other credits on recordings.

I don't like Yuta Nakano as an arranger. The sound is horrible when listening on a good sound device... I like his compositions, but Ayu really needs a "sound nerd" who can arrange her songs with good quality. It's not only him though, most of her songs are arranged bad for good sound devices, so I prefer to listen to most of her music via my laptop or regular headphones.

That's not really his fault, it's the person mixing or mastering that would determine how that sounds. There was a really bad job done around Party Queen due to the person in charge being different onward... and then it started to get better after a bit after A ONE?

Yes, you're right. It's the one who is mixing/mastering that's to mainly blame for that. I'm at my parents house tonight so I can't look at my CDs. But, some songs have way better sound than others on the same albums. Like on sixxxxxx, Sayonara sounds way better than Sorrows.
This is not the right thread for this, so I'll just end with that I love seeing photos of Ayu with working on new music.

I miss 14/15 tracks with 2/3 interludes album.

Those albums were also supported by singles/mini albums. I think 10-12 is gonna be her norm from now on.

MIJ was barely an album though. 8 tracks, an interlude and a bonus track.

I love seeing pics of the recording process. Looking forward to new music with Tasuku and Yuta Nakano!

I hope this time we get a real 12 songs album w interludes to make it at least 10 songs. We have waited so long!

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朝トレ終了‼️
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仙台では初めてのPOWER of MUSICとなります。7年前のパワミュのぶんと共に、最後までがっちり届けまくります💪✨
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ネイルはTAピンクにしました😌
・
#仙台
#POM20112018
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あの子が夢に見たであろう、あいつが楽しみにしていたであろう、あの人が希望としていたであろう、君が泣き ながら叫んでいたであろう、そんなんぜんぶひっくるめた全てを7年越しに叶えさせてくれてあり がとう。
お見送りのたくさんの笑顔にも、心からのありがとうを。
#仙台
#POM20112018

She looks cute in that outfit.

I love the majority of Tasuku and Yuta Nakano's work, so I am even more excited for the new songs :D They are very versatile. I love that even if ayu sticks with working with some of the same people, they're able to give her a variety of songs so it's never boring. :)

Aw she looks so cute here. While scrolling I initially thought this was some random shot from her poker face cd cover photo shoot and wondered why it was posted lol. She looks like her younger self here!

But then on the other hand, which album includes 8 songs which haven’t been released before, nor in commercials or as digital releases. I think 8 brand new songs is huge! Just the size of the album is so short and I really don’t like it

Party Queen had 9 new tracks :D Only Party queen and how beautiful you are were performed/released before the album was releases.

Right... but the party was over after the 4th track...

^And then came 10 master pieces so I don't see the problem lol :D

Haaa yeah I guess you’re right. Still I think this isn’t always the case! =P

is she hinting new song will be "LOVE IS ALL" with that tshirt though

Exactly lol

yassss
Party queen is sooo underrated. I hope new album will be sum good Timmy shiz. It was the last full enjoyable album for me. I found that I dont really listen to everything was realesed after that. It had ONE ballad and its so ENOUGH for me right now. She had sooo many ballads on LOVE again/A ONE/MiJ. I need diversity lol.

But I've waited so long I will be happy with anything :D

Love for PQ has been growing recently. Not for me. Party queen and NaNaNa are good (however I don't really listen to them anymore), then I skip until the magic three: reminds me, Return Road and Tell me why and then the album is pretty much over, unless I am in the mood for how beautiful you are.

I don't know what we can expect... I believe it will be songs like Mad World or whatever.

I know it's not the most popular but I'll never thank Party Queen enough for the next LOVE. This song is so beautiful, the lyrics are incredible.

Going back to the discussion before about dropping an album by surprise like MIJ: I hope she doesn't do it only because I live for the speculation once the tracklist is out.

I agree, next LOVE is amazing song.:love

Hopefully not! It is from Sunrise Sunset single...
I would prefer her to use the word "Trump" than the word Love, tbh

I think she should lay off Love for a while...

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Which one is better to have fresh start on Monday morning 💅✨✨✨

Nail by @zakinko_esNAIL

New TA update:

"a-nation 2018 supported by dTV & dTV channel" will be streamed live on dTV channel & MUSIC ON! TV.
*Osaka & Tokyo shows will be broadcasted live.

^^ what's the point of asking fans which nail polish they like better, when she disables comments? I may understand her decision to do so (considering the backlash on social media she recieved back in the days) but somehow I feel sad we can't say anything to her anymore. I don't think she would read anyway... but yeah, she is not really in 'touch' with us anymore :( so sad the haters ruined this for us.

Nevertheless, I say the darker pink. Even though, she won't give a damn about my thoughts.

^You can reply on twitter tho :yes she doesn't replies back as before but you never know she might read some comments haha

Oh ok. Too bad I don't have twitter. Never liked that medium

She has always the same posts on IG, FB and Twitter.
Facebook you can comment too. Only IG is disabled comments.

Then I wonder why she still disables comments on insta...

I'm not sure if you can disable comments on Facebook or Twitter, you can set as "private" your account but then on facebook you have to accept one by one the people who want to be your "friend" and something similar happens on Twitter, too much trouble and not even fans could see her pictures, Ig allows just to block the comment section but you can still see or like her posts :yes besides, Ig had a lot of haters and people commenting rude things on her pictures unlike FB or TW (there are some trolls as well but is less common)

I highly doubt she reads comments anywhere these days.

You can disable comments on FB.

I feel exactly the same.

A poll on Insta story would be a cute way to ask for fans' opinions. This way with disabled comments, it just looks stupid.

Considering that it's all crossposted, it doesn't really matter. People are still responding on those other platforms.

I’m sure she already got her nails done the way she wanted already anyway :laugh

she just posted that she went to a Celine Dion concert in Tokyo Dome? it's so cute.

Wow, cool!! I was just reading about Celine Dion the other day. :laugh

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今日は黒岩くんから素敵なプレゼントを頂きました��✨

�� Celine dion ��

ありがとうございました����

#DIVA
#OnlyOne

I wanted to go to that concert but the tickets were expensive and they sold out before I could really contemplate going T_T

I hope she liked it!

I feel like one of those mean haters, but I truely forgot that Celine Dion is alive...
Celine is an inspiration to many.. where there also other celebs attending as far as you guys know?

The cap on Ayu's head is nice, but now she really looks like a classmate of mine - who probably even keeps on the cap when she's asleep haha. Whatever, she (Ayu) looks great.

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「愛故に」って言葉はよく耳にするけれど、自分自身が身をもってその意味を理解することが出来たのは、何に も代え難いありがたい出来事だと最近本当に感じる。

本音で向き合ってくれる人、心の底から想い、叱ってくれる人が居る私は幸せ者だ。甘えるなよ、自分。実行あ るのみだぞ、自分。

I’m pretty sure Koda Kumi was in attendance aswell! At least she put something up about it on her Instagram.

Cute pic, but does anyone know what it says? Lol

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シモコとの現場はシモコがひとりで喋り倒すのでシリアスな雰囲気を出すのが本当に難しい！笑
そんなところが大好きなんだけどね❣️
#Photoshooting
#日焼けすごい👙

For the album cover???!!!!!!

I love her hair

Please give us news soon.

I hope it's for the magazine

I hope this is not the album cover although she looks good!

is that side boob? and yea her wig is flawlesss been missing those long hair style