New album (January 2023)

[//ABEST]

Originally Posted by koumori

Ayu's staff has said that they're now aiming for January 2023, but it sounded more like the next goalpost than something definite. No specific date has been confirmed either.
From the looks of Ayu's recent posts, she's still working/reworking the material she has and so it's hard to confirm how long that part of the process will take.

oh okay thanks for the info! I don't mind the wait since her latest releases has been so good! I hope she can keep the quality as high as it has been been for a while now. Something really change in her after Promised Land. Motherhood maybe? I just LOVE DaD, 春よ、来い, Nonfiction and my new favourite Summer Again

[Sky High]

It is good that we get some updates, but I don't have huge expectations, whenever we get that album it is going to be OK for me.

[Ayumi_lover]

While it is totally ok for an album production to take as much time as it needs I am just surprised at how chronic the bad management issue seems to be in Ayu's staff.
1) 1.5 years spanning ASIA TOUR is not an Asia tour after all (with like 2 dates in 2022 initially confirmed at the time of announcement)?
2) Countdown and 24th anniversary live DVD release was delayed (although they did go through the trouble of announcing it at the end of 24th anniversary live show and even made some digest from the live itself)
a) When dvd was finally released we learned they had some budget cuts on production team, otherwise how to explain all those special effects and noise issues?
b) Or was it a major failure of a filming crew that they were trying to hide by adding all those special effects?
3) The album promised for this autumn is delayed to 2023 winter (hard to set deadlines for writing songs, who would have guessed? I was hoping they would announce it when the whole thing was already at late production stages).
4) Countdown live logo and goods design looks like the whole design team suddenly resigned and the only left intern learned they need to do something 15 minutes before the deadline.

That is only what we can see from the outside in the last 12 months. I wonder what kind of mess is happening at the bottom of that iceberg.

[channy]

I feel six years are enough time to build up content for a new album and release it without delays after its announcement. I am a patient person, though. This way, however, people can rest in pleasant anticipation for the album, which is good as well

[alternarist]

perhaps the album would just be all the songs we get from the past 6 years + maybe two to three more new songs and 4 interludes.

and maybe who knows ayu will announce the new album date during CDL.

[adrtwb]

Originally Posted by alternarist

perhaps the album would just be all the songs we get from the past 6 years + maybe two to three more new songs and 4 interludes.

and maybe who knows ayu will announce the new album date during CDL.

i will be so pissed if we are getting just few more songs!!

[Evan Odinson]

One thing is having six years to prepare an album and other completely different are your experiences and feelings during those years. She went through a pandemic, becoming a mom, 2 pregnancies, staff/team changes, a serious injury and an anaphylactic shock that could've been fatal, and that's just what we know, who knows what else she's been through in her personal life. Unlike other singes who simply buy songs/lyrics, I feel like the ones who actually write their songs tend to scrap many since the lyrics they wrote maybe 1 year ago just doesn't feel right anymore, so I'd rather wait for her than getting an album she herself doesn't feel satisfied with.

[brener]

^ agreed

Originally Posted by adrtwb

i will be so pissed if we are getting just few more songs!!

me too

[summerain]

Originally Posted by Evan Odinson

One thing is having six years to prepare an album and other completely different are your experiences and feelings during those years. She went through a pandemic, becoming a mom, 2 pregnancies, staff/team changes, a serious injury and an anaphylactic shock that could've been fatal, and that's just what we know, who knows what else she's been through in her personal life. Unlike other singes who simply buy songs/lyrics, I feel like the ones who actually write their songs tend to scrap many since the lyrics they wrote maybe 1 year ago just doesn't feel right anymore, so I'd rather wait for her than getting an album she herself doesn't feel satisfied with.

Perfect.

[LOONAppears]

Originally Posted by tokyoxjapanxfan

I mean this in the nicest way possible but… girl has 3? Years to make an album and again waits until 2 months before lol

Not surprised, I just find it funny

In any case, at least we’ll have a song to hold us over

She’s sooooo me

[Chris85]

You're all too demanding. It is ready when it's ready. Nobody wants a rushed product, right?

[tokyoxjapanxfan]

I think she has a problem with making announcements before she really needs to. (Particularly on larger scales like the screens of her concert.)

I mean, we knew from the beginning it was “planned” for “fall”, but not “decided” on.
But considering she followed this announcement with updates of “recording!” “Finished!” “I’m shaking this song is so good!”—we, as fans, easily, whether true or not, understand that as meaning the recording process is on track and going well. Then Fall nears, comes, nearing the end (at least to where she could make a timely announcement)… then we get the news on the release being pushed back.

So, she sets herself (and her fans) up for disappointment when she’s not even sure about the release date herself. And Ayu strikes me as being emotionally motivated. IE, “I’m so excited I need to tell everyone the news!!” before said news is finalized. Which leads to emotional ups and downs—which can be draining to everyone involved.

Whether it’s management, her team, or just Ayu, there’s no harm in waiting to make announcements.

A simple “I’m currently recording my album, unsure of the release date. I’m hoping for fall but not sure.” —is so much more accurate to the situation.

Obviously things happen, ideas change—but I feel better decisions can be made… I guess it falls under public relations??? Lol


I’m not mad at all, but I do think it’s reasonable to be annoyed about it if you are.

[LOONAppears]

I am a bit disappointed that we are not getting the album as soon as we thought, however i've been liking the singles that she has released so far from it so i have high hopes for the direction of this album. i know a lot of people don't because they tend to compare her new material to her older and while yes i understand she's not in her prime commercially or artistically anymore, i still really do love a lot of the material she has put out in the past 10 years. I think Colours is a spectacular album and Trouble gets more hate than it really warrants tbh! I think it's honestly very commendable that an artist who has been active for almost 25 years and has a completely non-functional ear with the other one slowly losing it's hearing to still find passion in music and to still have the drive to continue to make brand new records. At the same time I do worry about her health a lot, physical and mental. She had a lot of health scares last year and I hope that she doesn't strain herself trying to get a product out while also touring all over Japan. Because of this, I will gladly wait for this album so she can make sure that not only she makes a beautiful body of work but also so that she takes the breaks she needs to recharge her body and mind. I know that i'm a newer fan of hers so maybe for people who have been fans for longer it can be a bit tedious to wait so long for a new album, but we can't say she has completely starved us cuz in this year we have gotten 2 singles and a cover, with MASK on the way already!! I'm still super excited for this album despite the delay (it's gonna be my first era with ayu <3)!!

[koumori]

Originally Posted by tokyoxjapanxfan

I think she has a problem with making announcements before she really needs to. (Particularly on larger scales like the screens of her concert.)

I mean, we knew from the beginning it was “planned” for “fall”, but not “decided” on.
But considering she followed this announcement with updates of “recording!” “Finished!” “I’m shaking this song is so good!”—we, as fans, easily, whether true or not, understand that as meaning the recording process is on track and going well. Then Fall nears, comes, nearing the end (at least to where she could make a timely announcement)… then we get the news on the release being pushed back.

I agree on that she shouldn't have made the announcement before she was ready, but she's mentioned having burnout/writer's block a few days after she would be trying to write, pretty much every single time. MASK was the only writing process that seemed to go smoothly, and then she went back to banging her head against the wall. I think a lot of people expected a delay given how stuttering the process has seemed - not that it means people can't be annoyed, if that's how they feel. But I don't think she tried to hide that things haven't been going well all year.

There's a full schedule write-up on the AHS Discord for the comments she's been making about the album process both on sms and on her blog, for anyone curious.

[Insanes]

I'm not surprised. I'm just a bit disappointed but hey, we've been already waiting for 6 years so what's a month or two more to wait ?

I hope we won't only have 4 new songs, 4 interludes and the ones released since "Trouble". That would be an insult to us.

And with all the things that happened to her in the past years, there's plenty of things to write and to tell.

[Sim']

Originally Posted by tokyoxjapanxfan

I think she has a problem with making announcements before she really needs to. (Particularly on larger scales like the screens of her concert.)

I mean, we knew from the beginning it was “planned” for “fall”, but not “decided” on.
But considering she followed this announcement with updates of “recording!” “Finished!” “I’m shaking this song is so good!”—we, as fans, easily, whether true or not, understand that as meaning the recording process is on track and going well. Then Fall nears, comes, nearing the end (at least to where she could make a timely announcement)… then we get the news on the release being pushed back.

So, she sets herself (and her fans) up for disappointment when she’s not even sure about the release date herself. And Ayu strikes me as being emotionally motivated. IE, “I’m so excited I need to tell everyone the news!!” before said news is finalized. Which leads to emotional ups and downs—which can be draining to everyone involved.

Whether it’s management, her team, or just Ayu, there’s no harm in waiting to make announcements.

A simple “I’m currently recording my album, unsure of the release date. I’m hoping for fall but not sure.” —is so much more accurate to the situation.

Obviously things happen, ideas change—but I feel better decisions can be made… I guess it falls under public relations??? Lol


I’m not mad at all, but I do think it’s reasonable to be annoyed about it if you are.

You've said exactly what I had in mind, but with a better choice of words, so thank you for that!

I love Ayu and I tend to always "protect" her and give her excuses and free passes, knowing we should be grateful for still having new music after 25 years when she could just announce her retirement and take care of her children.

But sometimes, it just feels so messy and unprofessional that I wonder if she doesn't feel the same too...
Remember what happened to the "first album in 2 years" with "single-quality for each track" we had in 2018?

[Aderianu]

Here is ayu's blog entry

Originally Posted by 2022-11-02(JST) | AYU BLOG

Things were going rather smoothly until the Mask, but a few days ago I was at a complete standstill.
I decided to redo all the songs I had been working on, but something was not right.

I know why, but I can't find a way out and I can't get out.

I've been in pain and hate meeting people for the past few days. I don't want people to see how weak and insecure I am.

I have to do something about it little by little, and I feel like I'm creeping forward little by little, telling myself that it won't start if I say I don't like it.

I was forced to face the music halfway and my stiff head and body were not moving, but yesterday, after taking a sauna, working out, getting a massage, covering my head with sake, laughing with each other, and sweating surprisingly much, the things that had been in agony finally flowed out of me. I felt like all the agony was finally flowing out of me, and I think I was able to spend a little more positive time today.Today, you know. LOL.


But to be honest, I can't say that production is going smoothly. I can't keep dragging my broken heart around day in and day out, so I just have to get on with my life, but with a wound so fresh, the ups and downs are still so intense that it's hard to just snap out of it and move on as if I've forgotten everything.

But tomorrow is another photo shoot.


I have to do what I have to do, I know. I'm going to do it.
I'm going to do my best.

I'm going to concentrate all my energy on tomorrow's shooting so that I can get good results.


ayu

[XFER]

Oh man, that's a woman in pain. Please, cut her all the possible slack :'(

[AyuCanada]

She tends to work better under pressure. The only project I can remember her having more time to develop are Trouble and... Maybe Colours.

[Sky High]

Originally Posted by XFER

Oh man, that's a woman in pain. Please, cut her all the possible slack :'(

Definitely