[Koda Kumi] The 195th Thread - ANⱭDNA

[abestfah]

After a forgettable​ AND, Kumi is back to me again. Every songs in this album, I can feel that she intended to produce all songs in this. My favorite song is "Pin Drop", the reason I ordered FC album for the first time. Also, I like Dangerous, Hush, Japanese Name Ballad, Haircut and Chances All. By the way, I think Introduction could be better, it is the least favorite for me among all introductions.

[lovethatkuu&ayu]

Easily Kumi's best overall album, since JAPONESQUE. I now understand why she was working on it until the last minute. She and her staff really thought about this album and put in some work on it. It's a unique combination of the familiarity of her 2005 to 2012 albums, and the boldness of her post-Bon Voyage work.

Listening to DNA, gives me a better understanding of what AND was supposed to be. I'm not going to lie, I was a bit put off by AND. It was a bit unfocused and a bit too over-the-top. Listening to both albums back to back, gives me a fresh perspective on AND.

Really happy to see the tour performing very well ticket sales wise. Kumi is one of the few veteran soloists at avex who can easily tour each year without question.

[voltron]

I have to listen to DNA some more, but I like it a lot more than I thought I would based on the previews. I don't think it's as strong as something like WOML, but it's really good.

As for AND, I really like it, but didn't LOVE it at first. However, after going to the FC tour, I really, really loved it.

[inspire_rmx]

DNA is such a step up compared to AND. Really loving all the songs on the album

[roxaskh2fm]

Originally Posted by voltron

As for AND, I really like it, but didn't LOVE it at first..

YES! For now I think that I prefer AND.
DNA is a good album, and i LOVE more songs from this album, but i also hate more (CHANCES ALL, eargh!). Let's see with a month or two listening everyday...

[ladyluthien]

I really love it Work That!
The FC photo book is beautiful.

[Marurosu]

I would like to know if Kuu is really Strong touring in Japan, cause it impresses me. She can make a tour only for Fanclub members. Is that usual in Japan?

[KarenPang]

Originally Posted by Marurosu

I would like to know if Kuu is really Strong touring in Japan, cause it impresses me. She can make a tour only for Fanclub members. Is that usual in Japan?

Other artistes also hold fanclub tours and also organise special fanclub events as well

In some cases , the fanclub members get to go overseas and have fun with the artiste themselves . Kuu has done that before when she went Hawaii sometime back

And some artistes take 1 step further by holding concerts that only male + female fans separately can attend too

[Ruan Borges]

DNA is such a solid album, her last album that I liked as a whole was Bon Voyage, and now I feel that again with this release. Watch Out is the only bad thing on it, so noisy, it should've been put on AND lol

[Gustavopc]

So overall, my thoughts on the album~

Spoiler:

Introduction: not bad, but too weak compared to other intros. Maybe cause that's indeed an intro and not a really short song like what we had for second session, Black Cherry and TRICK. It's okay.
HUSH: It came out almost an year ago but I still LOOOVE it to bits, so bold and energetic. That's great cause I can't imagine mid 2000s Kuu singing to this, it makes me so happy when she hits it right with her new sound.
Dangerous: The ''na na na na'' parts are sooo good, and the verses as well, just wish it was a bit less dubstep-ish cause it made the song sound a bit dated to me. But the energy here is also great!
WATCH OUT ~DNA~: Well it's really well produced but too over the top to me and too repetitive. Skippable when you're halfway through
ScREeaM: Better than the preview but it didn't click that much with me, and being in the middle of WATCH OUT and CHANCES ALL I just feel like also skipping this sometimes. I think it'll grow in me after some time tho
CHANCES ALL: Also a bit repetitive, commented on that before. Not bad, just doesn't seem to go nowhere. Gimme a remix on DH9 or an acoustic guitar performance on the tour pls
Aenaku Naru Kurainara: Looooove this, her voice sounds so sweet yet powerful, can't wait to see her doing it live. The slow piano makes me wonder if she's gonna attempt at playing it once again in a tour, wish she would.
HAIRCUT: Now from here on the album just takes off lol I loved this since the preview with AND, the beat is great and it's really catchy!
Guess Who Is Back: Even better in full, another song full of energy, and so unique in her discography especially since Bon Voyage!
HOT HOT: yaaaas all over the runway <3 Love the verses, she sounds so sexy, and in the chorus her deep voice is just so good. The instrumental with the latin-esque instruments also brings a nice uniqueness to this amongst her recent songs.
Kokoro kara i love u: AMAZING ballad, so glad it's not generic as another Ai no uta, there's something "mature" about this that I also sensed in Yorokobi no kakera, and I love this direction for her ballads. It fits her voice SO well. Could have been a succesful song if it were a single tbh.
Work That: Love love love, nice pop song with an ero-kakoii vibe to me!
Pin Drop: While I feel like not a good last song for the album cause it gives a vibe of "I want more", that vibe also makes the song so great lol There's some boldness to it I love so much

Overall yes it's a nice mix of what she's been doing lately and some "old school"-ish songs, more polished than AND, and more well layered (?) than W FACE, the arrangements feel better produced/more complex but still in the right places except for WATCH OUT I feel like that a lot of things "clicked" right for her (and me lol) during the production of this album. Really really great work, Kuu, so proud of you! <3 Can't wait for a terrific tour with a lot of dancing (and better outfits than those from bpm I hope hahaha)

[hud]

Dangerous and Work That are slaying me rn

[Darkifrit]

I loved W FACE (mostly outside) but was not really convinced with the 2 albums per year 2 years in a row.
AND was quite flat, i had no expectation for DNA, so after a first listening, i'm quite pleased with the album.
DNA is more polished than her last 3 albums. My favorite are 心から I Love U (could have been a small hit if she released it as a promotional single with a dramatic PV) & Dangerous.
Keep working Kuu, i hope the album will have good sales.

[Xianghua]

The car horns in Watch Out keeps catching me off guard. I always think it's coming from outside

[DevilsClap]

CHANCES ALL and HOT HOT are my favorite songs.
I also really for some reason like WATCH OUT!! I must be the only one , lol
I don't know what to think about ScREaM though, but I think with more times listening to it I can like it too-

[Corvina]

So some more detailed thoughts about DNA:

Spoiler:

Introduction: I really like this intro! It reminds me of something Matt Hill would do and I approve! Plus I think it really sets the mood for the whole album.
HUSH: Well produced song, which totally deserved to be a single. Just like in HOT HOT later she uses quite sensual, aspirating vocals in some parts. I really think in mood and style HUSH and HOT HOT work very well together, HUSH leading to HOT HOT.
Dangerous: It's a pretty complex song and I'm quite astonished Kuu composed the main parts. I don't really like her other two composed songs much. But this one works so well, spreading energy, but also has parts creating a rather dark atmosphere. I'm sold. If she creates such great songs with the help of Kenji she can go on with that!
WATCH OUT ~DNA~: The track I don't like that much, though it does work in the context of the album here. And in HQ it has some really great grungy beat going on I dig. So when listening with headphones I don't skip it because of that beat, hahaha. Like I said earlier I appreciate what she wants to do with it, also setting a bridge thematically to the next song.
ScREeaM: Musically this track is awesome, another complex song! Also like the theme of the song which climaxes in her singing "It's ok to be afraid". Too bad the chorus is such a fail lyrically.
CHANCES ALL: The song makes so much sense coming after ScREeaM, a song about fighting everyday in daily life! Here she sings about how she herself fights everyday to be happy in this world. The rainbow is present in both songs, too. And even though it misses a proper climax I really enjoy this song. The lyrics are great, too.
Aenaku Naru Kurai nara: Her vocals compliment the classical arrangement very well in this song. And they're pretty soft as well. It just works for me.
HAIRCUT:A song with a quite advanced sound and lots of layers going on, which makes it very compelling listening to it with headphones. Her different vocal approaches from rough to soft makes it also interesting. And I like the lyrics. Overall just well produced.
Guess Who Is Back: The hardest rock song she ever did! That guitar part towards the end is love! She said that the anime team requested a "mixture rock song" from her and she immediately thought about her husband and TEEDA as it's their specialty. Well produced and unique for her discography.
HOT HOT: Unusal structure for the song and I like that. Playful lyrics, accompanied by deep, sensual vocals. And catchy. Awesome and very fitting for summer like she intended to.
Kokoro kara i love u: This ballad evokes the feeling of already knowing it. In the sense like I would feel like knowing a person forever already even though I've just met him or her. Do you know what I mean? A comfortable feeling. Vocals are awesome here. Fits to some of the great ballads on W FACE inside being in the same style.
Work That:Some say the electronic sound is dated, but I never cared much about something sounding dated. The very cute vocals surprisingly fit the song, though I admit I had to get used to it. A combination of cute vocals and a western, "serious" sound is interesting and makes the cuteness bearable. It's also quite different for her discography.
Pin Drop: This is the biggest surprise for me! I liked the preview, but the song is so much better and evolving differently than I imagined it to be. I simply love it. The "don't give it up" background chorus and the accelerating part directly after give me goosebumps. And the tone she sings in sounds very comfortable for her. Considering it's a live performance song, I really can't wait to see her tour performance for it!

Overall an album that works and like others said bring together what she has done earlier in her career and experimented with in recent years. She definitely accomplished what she wanted to do with it, compiling the Koda Kumi sound while giving a further direction for the future.
Sound and especially also her vocals are well produced overall.
From HAIRCUT till the end it's pretty flawless to me.

Kuu introduces a new logo with this album:


Two intertwined Ks forming one entity, a DNA strand.
Really fitting to the theme introduced with W FACE and being continued with AND-DNA.

Originally Posted by SKYia

Noes I'm still waiting for the results of Ayu tour lottery but if I win I was thinking of going to Japan in December 19th-31st and try to attend Kuu's concerts (either Nagoya Dec 24th or Kagawa, the final) either through Lawson ticket if still posiible or reseller. Never been to Kuu concert, I'm a teacher and only can go to Japan Feb, July-Sept and sometimes December but she rarely has any concerts during those months, now would be such a perfect opportunity to see both Ayu and Kuu.

The final was aready sold out with her FC lotteries. It's always the date hardest to get tickets for.
The 2nd Nagoya date still has some tickets left, but Idk for how long.
Wish you luck to get tickets somehow!

[Gustavopc]

I actually read IOI instead of K-reverseK in that logo, but I like the concept

Corvina's comments on the lyrical content of the songs made me wanna take a listen to the album while reading translations, I guess it could help me grow into CHANCES ALL and WATCH OUT

[CeReSu]

I love the album ♥♥♥

My favorites so far:

- scream
- hot hot
- work that
- pin drop

And of course Haircut and Hush

[primavera♥]

I really really liked the chorus of Guess Who is Back, but I do not like the verses. Since I love the chorus though, I put it on my Kuu fav playlist to give it a chance to grow

Dangerous had a lot of potential, like I was really feeling the beats when it started but it never came together for me.

Otherwise, I thought this album really wasn't great. But Guess Who is Back and Work That are really good I think (minus that one issue I mentioned) Also I wouldn't skip Pin Drop if I heard it, it's fine. I appreciate her effort, but I hope I'm really able to enjoy her future project.

It's better than AND. But All Right is my fav Kuu song from the year still.

[Cahz-]

I liked Guess Who is Back, but I wished her vocals were clearer instead of that effect they used on the song. Anyway I'm happy many people here connected with the album, not my case sadly.

[Marurosu]

I'm expecting better sales for DNA... Because AND had almost no promotion, right?