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I'll copy my opinion of the new songs here from another thread.
Feel the love 1/5
TK's composition is really weak in this one, and the hello kitty production does not do much either. Overall this song is a let down, and maybe the live performance can do something to it.
Merry-go-round 4/5
Beautiful, catchy, and haunting. Sad songs with upbeat tempo is what ayu does with perfect execution. Kudos
Pray 3/5
Quite nice, but generic.
Hello new me 3.5/5
Really comforting and relaxing. But sounds like a LOVE again left over.
XOXO 4/5
Cute and might be a hit to the general public.
Lelio 5/5
Insanely brainwashing, and I like how ayu can add her own flavor to such a producer-oriented title. Kudos!
What is forever love 5/5
Though generic, this is a very beautiful piece of music, and the lyrical content adds another layer to it. Like merry-go-round, sad songs+upbeat tempo is a killer for ayu.
Terminal 6/5
Reminds me of the days I used to love electronic music. This is not a typical EDM production you get from a pop singer like ayu, and I think Armin and ayu worked really well with this one. Especially for a heavily producer-oriented project like this one, ayu definitely brings her own signature to it with the lyrics, emotion, and voice. The way she sings it reminds me of some of her old ballads - with the strong and fragile voice and with almost no vibrato.
NOW & 4EVA 3.5/5
Quite nice. Ayu's signature.
Angel 4/5
A really pleasant surprise, from the initial preview to the full song, and I'm sure the PV and live performance would be good too. Although ayu does not necessarily have the Western voice to nail this song, she did it the proper way and the result is quite unique IMO.
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Overall, 5/5 for the album.
It's really good that ayu tries this new direction at this point of her career. This really proves her capability as a pop artist, in terms of both the creativity and finance (lol). Good thing is that for the 5 songs produced by "big names", ayu brings her own flavor and/or Japanese sensitivity to it with either her lyrics or her voice.
And if the cover of XOXO/Terminal gives the theme of the upcoming album cover, I will be pleased as well. The setting and tone is the LOVE again mild color, yet the outfit and make-up is relatively fierce and strong/classy at the same time. This juxtaposition definitely fits her conception of the album which is to "outgrown WITH the typical ayu rather than leaving everything behind completely". IMO this is a rather clever move instead of putting up a really colorful package like NEXT LEVEL just to celebrate the EDM theme - which this album is not really about.
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