[Official Message] New Album.

[orbitalaspect]

Originally Posted by pimenta

Both Sorrows and Last minute are examples of how little her team seem to pay attention to the arrangements and mixing of her albums now a days.

I totally agree about the unfinished and unpolished feel of her latest works. I'm not one to notice bad mixing that much, but on some of her newer works the poor mixing is so obvious that it's kinda impossible not to be bothered by it, like Last minute, Sorrows or nearly all LOVE again. I don't even dislike those, but the mixing do bother me anytime I listed...

What I want the most for her isn't a certain gender of type of songs, in that sense I just wish her to do whatever se truly feels like doing, but I really want the attention to detail she and her team used to have, with good mixing and arrangements that suit the feeling of the song (and an album that sounds overall cohesive is always welcome as well).

I listen to LOVE again today and the production sounds so flat, even compared to Party Queen. There's almost no kick to the kick drums, and it just sounds muddy, like every instrument is playing in the same space and on the same part of the spectrum. Which is sad because Ayu has some memorable tracks on there, like SAKURA and Ivy.

Compared to snowy kiss, TSMGO has a lot more depth and dynamic to it, but her vocals are still too compressed.

So I have to agree that what's hurting Ayu's recent albums is that they're so generic in terms of mixing and mastering compared to her older works. It's sad to sit here in 2016 and think I am... sounds better mixed than sixxxxxx. But that's what I hear when comparing songs side by side. Sixxxxxx just sounds like it's in a box compared to the openness of songs she recorded even 15 years ago.

[Delirium-Zer0]

Originally Posted by orbitalaspect

Compared to snowy kiss, TSMGO has a lot more depth and dynamic to it, but her vocals are still too compressed.

...

It's sad to sit here in 2016 and think I am... sounds better mixed than sixxxxxx. But that's what I hear when comparing songs side by side. Sixxxxxx just sounds like it's in a box compared to the openness of songs she recorded even 15 years ago.

So much this. LOVEppears, Duty, and I am... were mixing triumphs, all of them. I mean they each have one or two tracks that aren't QUITE there, but what album doesn't... but they pack a serious punch. And even after multiple listens you still hear stuff you didn't notice before.

Duty is still SO bright and colorful when I listen to it now. That really shouldn't be the case. I mean that's just SAD.

But yeah I'm with most of you guys here - what genre ayu does doesn't matter that much to me. What matters is that it has to sound like she & her team cared about making sure it sounded right, and that the feelings we get as listeners are the right ones.