Virgin Records (a division of Universal Music Japan) will release an
Utada Hikaru cover album
Utada Hikaru no Uta (
The Songs of Utada Hikaru on her
English site) on December 9th to celebrate the 15th anniversary of her debut.
Although
Utada herself doesn't sing on the album, the following artists will be involved:
AI,
Inoue Yōsui,
Ōhashi Trio,
Okamura Yasuyuki,
Katō Miliyah,
KIRINJI,
Sheena Ringo,
Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis feat. Peabo Bryson,
tofubeats with BONNIE PINK,
Hanaregumi,
Hamasaki Ayumi,
LOVE PSYCHEDELICO and
Yoshii Kazuya. Who sings which songs? The answer will be announced later.
Virgin Records targeted singer-songwriters who are active at the forefront of the music scene to express
Utada's songs freely in their own ways. This is the first official compilation album featuring a number of different artists covering
Utada's songs.
Creators from other fields also joined in on the celebration. The special website published an illustration of
Utada Hikaru, drawn by
Carolin Löbbert from Westfalen, Germany. She recorded a
message for the special website in English, which you can check out along with her artwork. You can also view other works on the special website, but we'd like to introduce a few videos below.
Photographer
Nitta Keiichi disguises himself as
Utada Hikaru's jacket cover for
First Love, one of his favourite songs.
Calligrapher
Yabe Chōshō expresses a beam in the darkness with
Utada Hikaru's real name in kanji featuring one of her favourite songs
Wait & See ~risk~.
Choreographer
WARNER expresses the feeling of "happiness" with a dance to
Boku wa kuma, a longing, bittersweet but somehow warming song in his image.
