I'm pretending this album is a re-debut for her, tbh. So I don't particularly mind that she'll inevitably have incredibly low sales for it. She's been gone from the public eye for so long that she's practically a new artist. And I'm glad she's doing something completely different this time around. With fantastic results to boot.
After being on hiatus for 3-4 years, I don't expect her to just come back and do the same old thing she's always done. That's boring and dated and while it may appease some old fans, it certainly doesn't do a good job at bringing in new ones. LOVE FANTASTIC was an attempt at returning to her usual formula. But it just didn't work. She's a different person now compared to her PUNCH/JAM/COOK/PiECE days, and her music should reflect that. If anything, I'm just going to pretend Avex forced her to release FANTASTIC as a way to stick her ancient album-less singles somewhere lmao.
Something I always really liked about Namie, and probably one of the factors that helps keep that goddess so popular, is that she's unpredictable. She stays on top of her game and you never know what she's going to do next.
I would have never in my life expected Ai to release a hot club banger like I'm lonely. And I definitely hope she continues to experiment and surprise in the future. With this album, she came looking for blood and left with every ounce of my life with her.
