As an Utada Hikaru song, "SAKURA DROPS" kind of stands on its own. As far as musical arrangement goes, we've completely gotten away from the standard R&B format. This song is something much more unique. Defying genre, woodwind and percussion sounds give this song a more natural sound than most of her previous songs. Extra breathing worked into the arrangement gives the singing an airy sound. You can hear it on its own in the karaoke track. The song becomes more dramatic as it goes on, eventually adding a slight electric guitar and repeating some new lyrics indefinitely. The song is longer than it seems, at five minutes. 
A shot from the "SAKURA DROPS" promotion video. |
A very innovative promotion video was made to match this song. Following the natural theme, plant-like and animal images dominate this surreal video. 3-D animation was used to create things that don't exist (like the flower with bird heads growing out of it) but almost seem to already exist somewhere in our imaginations. In fact, most of the video is made with 3-D animation. Probably just about the only thing in the video that was not animated was Utada herself, and even she has kind of an odd painted look to her that matches the scenery. It all comes together to create a truly dramatic and unique experience. Also on this single is "Letters". This song is a little bit more standard. It sounds like something that could have shown up on her previous album. The song begins pretty weak, but picks up the pace and becomes more demanding. It is very catchy and strongly emotional. I like her style. The big backup vocal presence drives this song forward and rounds out the main melody nicely. Like "SAKURA DROPS", "Letters" ends with repeating lyrics that gradually fade out. I feel that the 8 rating doesn't properly convey how much we like the two songs on this single. I wish there were an 8.7 rating or something. It just doesn't quite deserve the 9, but then it seems better than an 8. Odd. Well, these are both very strong songs. Her third album, "DEEP RIVER", is due for release on June 19. Recently she has been ill. She has had an operation due to acute ovarian cancer. We all hope she will get better soon.
Buy it here.
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