Hikaru Utada - SIX CATALOG TITLES: 'First Love', 'Distance', 'DEEP RIVER', 'ULTRA BLUE', 'HEART STATION', 'Fantôme'

180g VINYL REISSUES TO BE RELEASED ON AUGUST 12

LOS ANGELES, June 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The first six albums from the catalog of Japan's top singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada will be released on LP format in the U.S. via UMe on August 12. Albums include First Love (1999), Distance (2001), DEEP RIVER (2002), ULTRA BLUE (2006), HEART STATION (2008) and Fantôme(2016) and can be pre-ordered, HERE.

Following the sensational debut with the single "Automatic/time will tell," Hikaru Utada's first album First Love (released in 1999) established the new record as the top selling album in Japan's history, and the record has not been broken since.

Of the eight studio albums that Hikaru Utada has released to date and were released on LP recently in Japan, the first six will be released in the U.S. on August 12.  It marks the first vinyl release ever for three of the albums, ULTRA BLUE, HEART STATION, and Fantôme.

Each of the six albums will be a 180g double-LP set, and the first five albums come with a bonus track.

First Love
180g 2LP
2014 Remastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, NY
96kHz/24-bit master

Disc 1 / Side A

Disc 1 / Side B

Disc 2 / Side A

Disc 2 / Side B

Distance
180g 2LP
2018 Remastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, NY
96kHz/24-bit master

Disc 1 / Side A

Disc 1 / Side B

Disc 2 / Side A

Disc 2 / Side B

DEEP RIVER
180g 2LP
2018 Remastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, NY
96kHz/24-bit master

Disc 1 / Side A

Disc 1 / Side B

Disc 2 / Side A

Disc 2 / Side B

ULTRA BLUE
180g 2LP (first time on LP)
2018 Remastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, NY
96kHz/24-bit master

Disc 1 / Side A

Disc 1 / Side B

Disc 2 / Side A

Disc 2 / Side B

HEART STATION
180g 2LP (first time on LP)
2018 Remastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, NY
96kHz/24-bit master

Disc 1 / Side A

Disc 1 / Side B

Disc 2 / Side A

Disc 2 / Side B

Fantôme
180g 2LP (first time on LP)
Mastered by Tom Coyne at Sterling Sound, NY
96kHz/24-bit master

Disc 1 / Side A

Disc 1 / Side B

Disc 2 / Side A

Disc 2 / Side B

Hikaru Utada's debut single "Automatic/time will tell" released on December 9, 1998 and sold over two million copies, catapulting them to top-artist-status at age 15. Their first album, First Love, released a few months later and marked the highest number of CDs sold in Japan, a record that remains unbroken to this day. All of their albums that followed have topped the charts. The 2007 single "Flavor Of Life" set a world record for the most digital downloads. They announced a hiatus from their music career in 2010 to focus on their "人間活動/ningen katsudo/career as a person," or personal growth, returning to their career of music in April 2016 with singles "Hanataba Wo Kimini" and "Manatsu No Tooriame." Their sixth studio album Fantôme followed in September 2016 to great success in both Japan and abroad with a #1 on the Oricon charts stretching four consecutive weeks for the first time, a #3 on the US iTunes chart, and over a million units total in sales of CD and digital downloads. Since March 2017, they have been with Epic Records Japan, a division of Sony Music Labels Inc. The year 2018 saw the release of their 7th album Hatsukoi on June 27, marked their twenty-year anniversary from debut, and their first Japan-wide tour since recommencing their music career. Footage from the tour is available as a video release under the title "Hikaru Utada Laughter in the Dark Tour 2018." The theme song for video game "KINGDOM HEARTS Ⅲ," "Face My Fears" was released as a single in 2019. The track was co-created with Skrillex and marked Utada's first Billboard Top 100 in the US. An EP of the A.G. Cook co-produced single "One Last Kiss" and their first self-cover "Beautiful World (Da Capo Version)" released March 10, 2021, and the former counted the artist's first time reaching 100 million streams.  The two tracks are both themes appearing in the feature film "EVANGELION:3.0+1.0 THRICE UPON A TIME (SHIN EVANGELION)." Later in the year, digital single "Kimini Muchuu," main theme for TBS Friday night drama "Saiai," released November 26, ranking in various streaming and digital charts around the globe.  Their highly anticipated 8th studio album BAD MODE released digitally on January 19, 2022, as well as their first online concert "Hikaru Utada Live Sessions from Air Studios." The latest album was released on CD February 23 and on vinyl April 27.

https://www.utadahikaru.jp/

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SOURCE Universal Music Enterprises