Critique: 23rd Monster
 

I haven't kept up with Ayu's vocals for the past few years, but I definitely noticed the "singing like she has a potato in her mouth" technique in 23rd Monster. It sounds like everything is coming from the back of her mouth.

Does anyone have insight on why she uses this style of singing? Does it make it easier to sing? Or it's just an artistic effect? It reminds me a lot of Hyde from Laruku

I'm ok with her vocals and the way they change throughout the years, so no critiques there.

I think this song is better than the ballads she's been putting out over the last few years, but I do think the production quality of the instrumentals has suffered drastically.

It's weird because I had this specific issue with Ohia no Ki and Haru Yo Koi vocals (first part mostly), but it is almost absent here for me. Her vocals are really not far from how they used to sound few years back to me and I like them this way.

I have the same feeling. But it is less an issue for me on this kind of song compared to ballads.

This "potato" was the first thing I've noticed. I thought maybe lyrics is too complicated and thempo too high
to pronounce words clear

I noticed the "potato" in talkin' 2 myself and especially in Love song, so I thought it was just an effect.

But she does it a lot in this song even when she was singing the slow parts. If anything, the faster parts sounded clearer to me.

Wish she’d sing with that potato more often then lol

(we have completely different opinions about a matter and neither she or me should be offended, it is that difficult?)

let's read something positive in between the posts:

She was able to surprise me with this release. I really enjoyed this type of style, dark and deep. It's kind of refreshing in regard to the last releases. I think its quite beautiful that we can hear her not being so nasal! Its not bad that her technique is more nasal nowadays but a chance in technique is great to me!

Im sure that 23rd monster would have been a great single if she had released it during mirrocle world era. don't ask me why i specify it like this ;D it just came to my mind.

You not being offended offends me! :P

But regardless of the existence of that potato or not, this would be an awesome song live.

Her dark/rock songs have always been my favorite, so this checked all the boxes

What’s holding me back from enjoying this song is the lack of enunciation???

I feel like it’s quite hard to make out what she’s singing, which I’ve honestly not experienced much of in the past.

I’m hoping it was a stylistic choice as opposed to a new singing style.

I love voice changes along ayu's career. It makes her discography eras even more unique.

I liked 23rd Monster when it was released...but I've only listened to it a handful of times since then. There are some Ayu tracks that I don't listen to often, but still enjoy thoroughly (forgiveness and Close to you come to mind), but I think the issue with 23rd Monster for me is that, while it is certainly a 'stronger' track than previous releases, it does appear to be more of the 'same' musically. It hasn't grabbed me like I thought it would as there are similar tracks in her discography that are more interesting musically and conceptually.

I almost feel like Ayu is...'meta' motivated and inspired (and has been for the last five years at least)? As in, she's motivated and inspired to continue releasing music by internal factors (i.e. her fans, her team, some elements of her classic sound), as opposed to external factors (i.e. new music, popular music genres, the desire to create, attracting new fans, etc.).

I admire the fact that Ayu continues to work hard, but...I wish she would work with different composers/arrangers and production teams to freshen her sound.

I love the song. And it's been a long, long time since I listened with joy to an Ayu's song.

This one reminds me of the old times (2006-2008) and I love the fierceness of the song.

Ayu's vocals changed a lot these past few years but I don't mind.

On this song, I admit it is a little weird, it is like she is singing without music in her voice (I don't know how to explain this point correctly in english). But I think it suits the song.

Best song since a long time for me, I wish for an album of this type, something fierce and more entertaining instead of new ballads once more.

can we add

number 5 / single/album cover
number 6 : PV

in this thread as well?

I have issues with the cover...

I do believe her hearing issues will affect how much she can actually freshen her sound in the future, as she would need new references and that would require her to, well, listen to new stuff.

Unless she hands that to someone else and hopes that person will now to reflect her accuratelly, there's not much that can be done.

I did enjoy Dreamed a Dream and 23rd Monster, but I completelly agree there's nothing new about any of those, something that has been an inssue since Colours, maybe.

I like it. Rock Ayu is always well received. I like how she is giving us different styles with the 3 songs she has released so far. The potato voice... I don't find it that weird. Maybe I just got used to it, I don't know

The only thing this song misses for me is that the chorus could be more powerful. The rest is okay for me. Not something iconic but ok. Maybe it's because I'm too obsessed now with Utada's One Last Kiss and nothing can top it now lol

I do believe Max started producing her again because he's someone who knows her and her work well. Still, Ayu had a pretty unique musical vision for a good part of her career that is most likelly lost.

Any time I see people suggest she needs to find new people to work with, I just think of Party Queen and Colours. She had new composers, new mixers, etc. and that wasn't well-received within the fandom.

As she lost hearing capabilities, she relied more heavily on others' opinions instead of nitpicking it to perfection like she did earlier in her career.. It's always been my view that she had yes-men around her.

So in regards to someone saying "does no one around her hear how bad she may sound", I doubt they will tell their employer the hard truth. It's just like how did anyone approve the mixing of Party Queen? It goes up the chain.

It did break my heart when she said in her TA blog that she was just doing things that made her happy even though we, the fans, were so critical of it.

I don't hold her works up to their predecessors anymore. I just take songs at face value and enjoy it. It has made my journey as a fan a lot happier as well.

Thanks! I don't like how 23rd Monster font type places on her finger.


23rd Monster is one classic "new roman time style" font type, but ayumi hamasaki another "arial" font type? Lack of consistent in typography design.

I am just enjoying whatever ayu is dishing out considering it was a challenging year + she was pregnant. So far, the new songs had not disappoint me at all.. namely Ohia no Ki, Dreamed a Dream, Haru yo Koi and 23rd Monster.

I am just curious how is ayu going to keep up in a live performance of 23rd Monster (assuming there is one) haha

It’s not what I expected and that’s a good thing
I’m glad she doesn’t do music to cater to a whole fanbase so what someone doesn’t now, well they can wait for the next release and it makes it more special ����

After Haru no Koi this was the best thing for her to do in my opinion because the releases sound like opposites and I was worried she was maybe going to go for a more refined sound maybe as she gets older but NOPE and I’m happy haha

How I feel about 23rd monster? At the beginning, I was so excited !! New song, rock vibes and gorgeous cover. Nothing new about arrangement but it's ok for me. It remains me a lot of previous ''rock'' song (Talkin 2' myself, Don't leave me alone...) So nostalgic... But for me the song miss something maybe it's because of the vocal I don't know. It's a (good) safe song... I'm still really happy anyway... Better than Dreamed a dream I think which I like too. And I Love Ohia no ki too, so I'm desperately ready for her next album !

I love the song and her lyrics, very powerful and honest as always

Her vocal I guess we can't expect it to be the same as her peak after all that she went through, it's not the best but I don't thin it's horrible either

At this point I am more interested in her PV than music.

Unfortunately the PV didn't do anything to me. I couldn't help looking at the CG sky and being distracted by all the filters. It made it look quite cheap. Something dated she totally could have done almost 20 years ago. Like there is no evolution at all.
The first teaser we had looked fresher being shot in a simple set up.

Still, nice to see they all put effort on this! Happy to see dark ayu still there.
Can't wait to see future PVs.

Her peak PVs are from 1999- 2005 I think…. After that every PV just look like there’s no evolution or merely just recycled.

^ could we at least agree that you will extend that to 2006 or 2007? The whole Secret era incl part of me had such beautiful PVs!

Agreed! Even though I would rather extent until 2010, her music videos were so intense and bold! such a masterpiece!

My opinion about 23rd monster, I liked how they did more scenes with her, the choreography, I didn't expect that much overall, because I didn't like the song at first, but let's be honest, we can be surprised by others songs maybe?

It’s now pretty clear to me that Ayu really hasn’t been paying attention to current music as of late. That, or, she just doesn’t care.

But considering she used to draw inspiration from popular acts around the world, I haven’t seen such influences in her music in a long time… the last “big” influence that I remember was probably Rihanna and You & Me—and it was probably her last hit… (Visually, though, she’s definitely been inspired by Ariana.)

And she basically admitted to not listening to music anymore, which is absolutely crazy to me as in any job, it’s also your job to pay attention to what’s going on outside of your company or product… but, oh well lol.

23rd isn’t commercial at all so I wasn’t expecting anything in that regard, it’s definitely Ayu’s own thing. But I continue coming back to this feeling of: Why isn’t she using the absolute best of the best? Lol

Rock'n'Roll Circus just called and it wants a word with you.

More seriously, I LOVE the PVs for Don't look back and Microphone specifically, but I think the whole album is really strong when it comes to PVs!

For me is ok with this little projects. I think Ayu don't want to beat charts or sales numbers, the fandom is so powerful with her and this is enough. She could have retired or taken a hiatus time years ago, but instead we have these singles :)

Love it so much! Love the theme with the moon in the back. Lovely aesthetics :love She looks incredible

Oh thanks god for that. I don't want to see ayu follows Cardi B that type of style.

I don’t mind her not picking up on western trends, but the fact she’s not even picking up on Japanese trends is ludicrous.

It’s strange because most of the chart music is pop-rock that Ayu started with. She should be able to do it uniquely and well, but instead she’s putting out walls of sound.

Remember the interview in Singapore where she said she doesn’t want to make stuff that’s trendy just for the sake of it. I don’t think any of the currently popular female jpop acts are doing anything differently. Aimyon’s stuff sounds like it could’ve been released any time in the last 40 years, Lisa sounds exactly like she’s sounded in 2012, Aimer actually used to sound more up to date years ago �� with a proper anime tie in 23rd Monster could have worked regardless of the dated sound.

Also if you look at the streams Last minute, WORDS, aeternal, NO FUTURE, MOWY and even Ohia/DaD have all beaten You & Me ��

I do think people oversees like a lot how hard is for someone almost deaf to listen to new stuff. At this point, she probably has to choose between doing what she already knows from memory or releasing stuff without knowing what the song actually sounds like for the sake of following trends.

"Oh, but she saids she doesn't listen to music anymore".
Yeah, because she is almost deaf. She most likely doesn't listen almost anything anymore. And there's not much she can do about that.

23rd Monster is fun for what it is, but obviously isn't Ayu at her peak as a musician. Considering how long it was the last time she tried something different, I do believe that at this point I should just enjoy whatever comes out for what it is without expecting anything innovative.

I am not sure what we are really asking of her? Maybe I have read it incorrectly, but I interpret some of these posts pointing out that Ayu is not up to date, to whatever is 'latest music evolution' . But is that really what we need from her? We all loved her because of certain hits she released about 20 years ago, and it is amazing how long she is able to continue her career after that. Why reinvent the wheel while doing something great already that fits your sound and is recognizable for the fanbase?
With 23rd Monster, she takes us back to memory lane, some of us already pointed out it reminds them of GAME or About You... Idk man, but to me it seems like she cares about whatever her fanbase likes.

On another and more lighter note...
I can't imagine Ayu doin' a "WAP" but I am actually very intrigued if she takes inspiration of my chick Cardi

I’m not asking anything of her, but that doesn’t mean I don’t hope for things. I’m just stating that she either doesn’t pay attention to recent trends, or she just doesn’t care. It wasn’t meant to be a negative, just an observation.

In the end, 23rd isn’t a commercial (on trend) song. If you’re into the 2007 era jpop songs, it’s a great track. If not, then maybe next time. For me, I prefer poppier songs and hope she returns to that sort of sound soon.

In terms of her deafness, I’d still hope that as a musician she still enjoys music and the music scene as much as she can… and it seems that for awhile she was uninspired by her own admission. Now that she’s stated that she’s back, I look forward to what she brings us.

^ Just out of curiosity: if it were up to you, what kind of trend or sound would you like Ayu to follow/inspire her?

Oh if I had my dream album I don’t know it it would necessarily be on trend lol, but it would be a sound Ayu hasn’t revisited in a while, which is the more dreamy, ethereal sounds of RAINBOW. A nice album to escape too, something that’s light and poppy. Colorful visuals. Heck she could even have a “nightmare” portion of the album if it’s a full dream concept.

We often get quite heavy albums / videos / visuals / lyrics from Ayu, and sometimes I don’t want that. You can still be very thoughtful and interesting and insightful while being happy or fun or light in sound. Fairyland is a rather deep song but sonically it’s poppy and light, for example.

I miss those sorts of sounds, so I long for them most I suppose.

Not this.
https://media.giphy.com/media/pqLVfj...zo6Q/giphy.gif

Or this.
https://media.giphy.com/media/eLpoB5...vJ2e/giphy.gif

But I am ok with this.
https://media.giphy.com/media/wIJ6JU...r8oo/giphy.gif

And this
https://media.giphy.com/media/5ZYCjG...Ixjz/giphy.gif

^please no. (Although I’ll take anything from her at this point lol)

Y.E.S

What I would really like is her to do more stripped down music at some point. I wouldn’t mind at all an album with less instruments and arrangements (yes, I’m looking at yuta nakano) in which she can focus more on her voice. I’m sure if she went to the slower-mid tempo route paired with her lower register, we could get some interesting creations here. On another side note, her over dramatic intonations could make this unlistenable too tho I’m thinking about rainbow (the song) while writing this, but Lana del rey’s recent style comes to mind as well.

I personally really don't want her to follow the trends. It would be worse than doing her signature sounds all over again for me. Yet, there is a whole world between doing this and relying on the same sounds again and again. I crave for something bold, new. I wish her and her whole team would explore new horizons, being creative and passionate again like they used to be during so many years. I hope this is definitely not behind her.

I don't have much to 'critique' 23rd Monster with, because at this point I was just thirsty for some fierce song with a cool-looking video, and I got them both :laugh

thank you for saying this. while I agree that her 'peak', whatever that means, was reached long before, I cannot help but look at Rock'n'Roll Circus with such marvel and fondness.

the whole medley style for Sexy little things—Microphone PVs? iconic. her LOOKS alone in these two videos are mind-blowing to 2010-me, even now. plus the concepts are so cool.

and, please, Don't look back? it's such a simple video but I still get chills. I love the song, and the video is so well done. the cheeky showing-only-one-side-of-the-face, the reveal of the disheveled side, her haunting devastated look, and the whole symbolism with the huge scratched up A BEST 2 -BLACK- poster behind her as she smiles sweetly throughout the video. this video is an MA thesis.

thank you for saying this :yes

I'll stop following her

I love Cardi B because she can have this unique style.

However, I love ayu because she has another style that fits her.

I prefer not to comment and just read, but i found this thread to be quite interesting and i enjoyed reading the many different perspectives of the members.

To stay on topic: I love the song, i’m a rock-ayu fan so i am biased but i really do enjoy it and think it’s one of the best she’s done recently.

But to comment on the grander and bigger topic regarding the artistic direction of Ayu, i’m just gonna be honest. She’s in a state where it’s impossible to please everybody.

If she sticks to what she knows best and her signature sounds. People will complain it’s nothing new and something they’ve already heard from her.

If she does branch out and try new and different things, people will still complain that she’s doing something that they’re not used to from her and that she’s abandoning her core style and sound. We’ve seen the reception to Party Queen, COLOURS and to some extent.. NEXT LEVEL. It would be a lie to say that I myself have also not liked some of her recent work and have been disappointed by the musical direction and lyrical content in comparison to what she’s put out previously.

But beyond all of that, I have no doubt in my heart that she is aware of those issues above and at this point, she really doesn’t care, she stopped caring about sales and relevance a long time ago and at this point she only cares about doing whatever feels good to her. And to be honest i respect her for that, she really has nothing to prove at this point and considering her health issues that are definitely affecting her creativity and performance (directly and indirectly).. i’m just happy she’s doing what she likes. Of course i do have my concerns and wish she would take it easier on herself. But i am just amazed at the level of dedication she continues to pour into her career, even when she’s recently given birth! regardless of her sound currently. I have an enormous respect for her as a person and as an artist and i will continue to follow her.