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This Is the One

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For the Stone Roses song, see This Is the One (The Stone Roses song).
This Is the One
Digital cover
Studio album by
Utada
ReleasedMarch 13, 2009 (2009-03-13)
Recorded2007–2009
Genre
Length37:09 (Standard version)
45:35 (Japanese version)
LabelIsland
Producer
Utada chronology
Heart Station
(2008) 		This Is the One
(2009) 		Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2
Utada the Best
(2010)
Singles from This Is the One
  1. "Come Back to Me"
    Released: February 10, 2009
  2. "Sanctuary"
    Released: July 21, 2009 (Japan only)[2]
  3. "Dirty Desire"
    Released: December 21, 2009[3]

This Is the One is the third English studio album by Japanese American pop singer-songwriter Utada, released by Island Records in the United States digitally on March 24, 2009 and physically on May 12, 2009. The album was originally set to be released in Japan on March 4 but was pushed back to March 14. The album was only released in North America, Japan and some parts of Asia. In Japan, the album topped the Oricon's International Album chart and peaked at number three on the Weekly chart. In the United States, the album peaked at number 69 on the Billboard 200 chart. This Is the One was the supporting album of Utada's 2010 tour Utada: In the Flesh 2010.[4] On December 21, 2009, the "Dirty Desire" remixes were released.[3]

This Is the One marked Utada's last album with Island Records, and the Universal Music Group at that time, not only due to the end of her contract, but also due to her 2010 global recording contract with EMI Music. All albums, regardless of language, will be released under "Hikaru Utada", thus also retiring her Western stage name, Utada.[5] In 2013, EMI Music Japan merged with Universal Music Japan following the global merger between the two music groups. Thus, her sixth Japanese album, Fantôme, marks the last release with Universal Music Group as a whole before she moves to Epic Records Japan.

Background

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On October 23, 2007, Utada wrote a message on her Japanese blog stating that she was writing and recording demos for her next English album while simultaneously completing her fifth Japanese studio album.[6] During her interview with Ningin on February 3, 2009, Utada states that she wanted to make a mainstream album, and the result was a more R&B influenced album because that's what currently is mainstream.[7] In an interview with Kiwibox on February 20, 2009, Utada explains that the title of the album came about because she was going for a more mainstream sound for this record, and that it would be the "breakout" album.[8]

Recording

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Utada worked with various other artists on several tracks, including Stargate produced, prematurely published "Apple and Cinnamon" and sometime later at least one other track produced by Christopher "Tricky" Stewart. On January 9, her subject-exclusive blog indicated that she was nearing completion of the album, and said of the work involved, "If this were a live show, I'm at the painful part about two songs before the break for the encore." She also stated that, upon completion of the album production, she would post her first new English blog message of the year.[9] Official Japanese and English press releases posted online January 22 confirmed that Utada had worked with producers Stargate and C. "Tricky" Stewart, and that the album's recording had taken place in New York, Atlanta, and Tokyo, and 10 songs were written (by her) for the project.[10][11] In a blog post dated January 31, Utada mentioned that she had on that day decided on the sequence of songs and that the album was soon to be mastered. She also wrote that the title would soon be announced.[12] Later, in an issue of Japanese magazine WHAT'S IN?, two more track titles were revealed ("Poppin'" and "Automatic Part II") as well as other significant tidbits of information regarding the upcoming release. It was reported that Utada was in the studio with Stargate for roughly one hour, while the majority of the rest of the album's production was completed separately by transfer of data between Japan, New York, and Norway.

Promotion

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Utada at Sephora in New York

On February 3, Utada had a two-part interview with Ningin's Asian Media Online community to further promote her new music.[7] On February 6, Island Records took out an advertisement for Utada's first single "Come Back to Me" on radio industry news site FMBQ. On February 14, Utada had an interview with GossipGirls where she talked about the new concept for her This Is the One.[13] On February 20, Utada had an interview with Kiwibox.com to further promote her upcoming album.[8] On March 3, Asiance Magazine interviewed Utada about her upcoming album.[14] Beginning March 18, Utada made radio tours in the West Coast to promote the album, stopping at radio stations in Seattle, Portland, Reno, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.[15] Utada hosted listening parties at select Sephora beauty and cosmetics stores in Los Angeles on March 24, in New York on March 25, and in Miami on March 27 to further promote the album.[16] On March 23, the music video for the lead single "Come Back to Me" was released as the 'Free Music Video of the Week' on the U.S. iTunes Store. On March 24, Utada performed "Come Back to Me", "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence - FYI", and "Me Muero" live on Los Angeles KTLA Morning News.[17] On March 28, Utada performed on the CBS program, The Early Show Saturday Edition.[18]

On 21 December 2009, Utada released the "Dirty Desire" remixes. Although classed as a single, no music video was produced, nor was there much in way of promotional activities. This single was mainly to promote Utada's In the Flesh 2010 tour.[citation needed] The song peaked on the US Dance Club Songs chart at 16.[19]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[20]

This Is the One received generally positive reviews. Adam Benjamin Irby of Bleu Magazine wrote "This Is the One is an exceptional album that will with the right promotion definitely breathe some life into what's becoming a stale pop music scene in America".[21] Daniel Robson of The Japan Times panned the album, saying that by hiring the superproducers behind other successful acts, Utada "basically make her music as bland, accessible and predictable as possible". He noted some good songs on the album and said the album was "practically x-rated at times" due to songs like "Dirty Desire" and "Automatic Part II"; where she sings "During my 9 to 5, I'm thinking six and nine" and "Contraceptive, when I'm on it, it's automatic" on the respective songs.

Michael Botsford of AudioScribber gave the album six out of ten. He said the main issue with the album was its obvious influence from American R&B, commenting "[...]we were half expecting Fat Man Scoop to intercept the music and demand we put our hands in the air". He also wrote the album was an "undeniably cute and charming album", and "if she stopped aiming to please the mainstream, this album would have scored a higher rating".[22] David Jeffries of AllMusic gave This Is the One a positive review, stating that "Utada the performer is clearly defined here with slick, polished production supporting her songs rather than dominating them", but that "most of her lyrics are riddled with clichés with plenty of 'whispers in the dark'". Jeffries also mentioned that "Big, behind-the-scene names like Chris "Tricky" Stewart and Antonio "LA" Reid point to the urban meets pop attitude of the album, but Utada will not be overshadowed. This album is hers alone and when placed next to Exodus, it's aptly titled".

Commercial performance

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In Japan, This Is the One debuted at number three on the Oricon Weekly chart,[23] selling 77,832 copies in its first week.[24] On the Oricon Foreign Album chart the album debuted atop the chart and would stay at number one for six consecutive weeks.[25] In America fueled by downloads alone, the album debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 178 and number six on the Top Heatseekers chart, selling 5,000 units.[26] The album re-entered the Billboard 200 on the issue date of May 30, 2009, peaking at number 69 with 6,915 units sold and then fell to number 137 the following week with 3,873 units sold.[27] However, the album overall did not outsell her debut album, Exodus, selling a total of more than 16,000 units in the United States alone (versus Exodus which sold more than 55,000 copies).[citation needed] This Is the One sold 300,000 units worldwide.[28]

Track listing

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Standard version
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Come Back to Me"Utada, M.S. Eriksen, T.E. HermansenUtada, Stargate, Sking U3:56
2."Me Muero"Utada, Eriksen, HermansenUtada, Stargate, Sking U3:25
3."Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence – FYI"Utada, Eriksen, Hermansen, Ryuichi SakamotoUtada, Stargate, Sking U3:49
4."Apple and Cinnamon"Utada, Eriksen, HermansenUtada, Stargate, Sking U4:38
5."Taking My Money Back"Utada, C. "Tricky" StewartUtada, Stewart, Sking U3:12
6."This One (Crying Like a Child)"Utada, Eriksen, HermansenUtada, Stargate, Sking U4:30
7."Automatic Part II"Utada, S. Hall, StewartUtada, Stewart, Sean K., Kuk Harrell3:00
8."Dirty Desire"Utada, StewartUtada, Stewart, Kuk Harrell, Sking U3:51
9."Poppin'"Utada, Eriksen, HermansenUtada, Stargate, Sking U3:31
10."On and On"Utada, Hall, StewartUtada, Sean K., Stewart3:25
US physical release bonus tracks
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
11."Simple and Clean"Utada, Akira Miyake, Sking U5:03
12."Sanctuary (Opening)"Utada, Akira Miyake, Sking U4:25
13."Sanctuary (Ending)"Utada, Akira Miyake, Sking U5:58

Note

  • The standard version track list was released in countries like South Korea,[29] Malaysia,[30] Hong Kong,[31] and others than the United States and Japan, with only ten tracks without the bonus tracks.

Japanese version

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  • The Japanese version of This Is the One has a slightly altered track listing (in both physical and digital formats).[32][33]
  • All songs written and produced by Utada; others who also worked on the album are given below.
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."On and On"Utada, Hall, StewartUtada, Sean K., Stewart3:25
2."Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence – FYI"Utada, Eriksen, Hermansen, Ryuichi SakamotoUtada, Stargate, Sking U3:49
3."Apple and Cinnamon"Utada, Eriksen, HermansenUtada, Stargate, Sking U4:38
4."Taking My Money Back"Utada, StewartUtada, Stewart, Sking U3:12
5."This One (Crying Like a Child)"Utada, Eriksen, HermansenUtada, Stargate, Sking U4:30
6."Automatic Part II"Utada, S. Hall, StewartUtada, Stewart, Sean K., Kuk Harrell3:00
7."Dirty Desire"Utada, StewartUtada, Stewart, Kuk Harrell, Sking U3:51
8."Poppin'"Utada, Eriksen, HermansenStargate, Sking U3:31
9."Come Back to Me"Utada, Eriksen, HermansenUtada, Stargate, Sking U3:56
10."Me Muero"Utada, Eriksen, HermansenUtada, Stargate, Sking U3:25
11."Come Back to Me" (Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Radio Edit)  4:03
12."Come Back to Me" (Quentin Harris Radio Edit)  4:23

Charts and sales

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Sales

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ)[41] Platinum 242,657[40]
United States (Billboard) — 16,000[42]

Release history

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Country Date Distributing label
Japan March 13, 2009 Universal Music Japan
United States March 24, 2009 (Digital) Island
May 12, 2009 (Physical)
Canada March 24, 2009 (Digital) Universal Music Group
June 23, 2009 (Physical)
South Korea March 24, 2009
Hong Kong
Taiwan
Thailand April 2, 2009
Worldwide May 12, 2009

References

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  1. ^ "Utada sits down with Ningin and says "This Is The One" Part 1/2". blog.Ningin.com. 2009-02-03. Archived from the original on 2009-02-06. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
  2. ^ "mora[モーラ] : Utadaの楽曲を試聴・ダウンロード". Mora.jp. 2009-12-28. Archived from the original on 2010-03-30. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  3. ^ a b "News : Dirty Desire Remixes". Wayback Machine / Utada. 2009-12-09. Archived from the original on March 23, 2010. Retrieved 2012-07-18.
  4. ^ "News : Utada Returns To The U.S. For Tour". Wayback Machine / Utada. Archived from the original on August 20, 2010. Retrieved 2012-07-18.
  5. ^ "EMI Music and Hikaru Utada agree new global recording deal". EMI Music. 2010-11-08. Archived from the original on 2011-05-15. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
  6. ^ "Wheat" (in Japanese). u3music. October 23, 2007. Archived from the original on October 25, 2007. Retrieved February 25, 2009.
  7. ^ a b "Utada sits down with Ningin and says "This Is the One" - Part 1/2 | Ningin". Blog.ningin.com. Archived from the original on 2010-03-14. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  8. ^ a b "Utada Exclusive Interview". February 20, 2009. Archived from the original on February 28, 2009. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
  9. ^ "U3MUSIC INC". U3music.com. Archived from the original on 2009-06-22. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  10. ^ "Utadaのセカンドアルバム詳細が明らかに！ 音楽ニュース : リッスンジャパン". Listen.jp. Archived from the original on 2009-12-12. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  11. ^ "Utada releases new single 'Come Back to Me'". Monsters and Critics. Archived from the original on 2012-09-04. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  12. ^ "This is Utada - MySpace-blog | van Utada". Blogs.myspace.com. Archived from the original on 2009-02-04. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  13. ^ "Gossip Girl". Gossipgirls.com. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  14. ^ ShannonLin Offline (2007-04-10). "Utada is Crossing back to North America". Asiance Magazine. Archived from the original on 2009-03-05. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  15. ^ "U3MUSIC INC". U3music.com. Archived from the original on 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  16. ^ "News : Come Meet". Utada. 2009-03-17. Archived from the original on 2010-01-04. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  17. ^ "U3MUSIC INC". U3music.com. Archived from the original on 2010-06-01. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  18. ^ "News : Utada On The Early Show Saturday Edition". Utada. Archived from the original on 2010-01-03. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  19. ^ "Utada Hikaru Chart History: Dance Club Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  20. ^ Jeffries, David. "Album - This Is the One". AllMusic. Archived from the original on March 21, 2024. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  21. ^ Irby Benjamin, Adam (April 20, 2009). "Bleu Critic: Utada 'This Is the One'". Bleu Critic. Archived from the original on June 1, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
  22. ^ Botsford, Michael (March 26, 2009). "Utada - This Is the One". AudioScribbler. Archived from the original on April 22, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
  23. ^ "検索結果-ORICON STYLE アーティスト/CD検索". Oricon (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
  24. ^ Oricon Style Staff (March 23, 2009). "Oricon Albums Chart – Chart Week March 23, 2009". Oricon; published through Yahoo! GeoCities (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  25. ^ a b "Utada、6週連続首位獲得ならず". Oricon (in Japanese). April 27, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
  26. ^ "Artist Chart History - Utada". Billboard. Retrieved April 2, 2009.
  27. ^ "Billboard.com - Discography - Utada - This Is the One". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 14, 2009. Retrieved 2012-07-18.
  28. ^ "Utada This Is the One Billboard 200 position". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 24, 2014. Retrieved May 30, 2009.
  29. ^ "YESASIA: Utada - This Is The One (Korea Version) CD - Utada Hikaru, Universal Music (South Korea) - Music - Free Shipping - North America Site".
  30. ^ "YESASIA: This Is the One (Malaysia Version) CD - Utada, Utada Hikaru, Universal Music Malaysia - Mandarin Music - Free Shipping - North America Site".
  31. ^ "YESASIA: This Is The One (Hong Kong Version) CD - Utada, Utada Hikaru - Japanese Music - Free Shipping - North America Site".
  32. ^ "YESASIA: This Is The One (Japan Version) CD - Utada, Utada Hikaru, Universal International - Western / World Music - Free Shipping".
  33. ^ "This Is The One Utada CD Album". CDJapan.
  34. ^ "KAT-TUN、1stシングルから10作連続1位". Oricon (in Japanese). March 17, 2009. Retrieved March 30, 2009.
  35. ^ "G-Music International Chart - 2009 Week 16". G-Music. April 17–23, 2009. Archived from the original on April 30, 2009.
  36. ^ "G-Music Western Chart - 2009 Week 17". G-Music. April 30, 2009. Archived from the original on May 6, 2009.
  37. ^ "Hikaru Utada Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  38. ^ "Heatseekers Albums Chart". Billboard. 11 April 2009. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  39. ^ "2009年 アルバム年間TOP100". Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  40. ^ "TOP50 Albums Weekly complementary thread - thread shelter sales @ JBBS boards". Livedoor (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 8, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
  41. ^ "Japanese album certifications – Hikaru Utada – This Is the One" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 2009年03月 on the drop-down menu
  42. ^ Trust, Gary (April 24, 2009). "'COME BACK' FOR THE FIRST TIME". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 26, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
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