Namie Amuro has finally dropped her long awaited album _genic, following the local and international success of FEEL. I was happy with FEEL and to be honest, that album made me more accustomed with EDM, a genre I rarely touched back in the days, almost like a taboo. That said, I do have FEEL to thank for when it comes to me realizing EDM is not all that bad, as a music to just enjoy.
_genic is a 14-track album and 90% are sung in English or Engrish. I’ll touch more in detail about her pronunciation later. Let’s go into the songs first.
Photogenic is the album opener and if I were to compare with Alive (FEEL’s opener), I’d say without doubt Alive is much superior in many ways. Photogenic just doesn’t give me the WOW feeling no matter how many times I listen to it, still, it works for this particular album, perhaps. Basically, she sings of being photogenic and the confidence level is quite high, demanding her pictures be showcased and whatnot.
Time Has Come – I have mixed feelings for this. The verses are fine but somehow the chorus doesn’t quite flow with it, the breakdown before the chorus doesn’t do its job as well either, the lead-up sort of pulls the anticipation down. I have a hard time picking what she’s singing either.
Golden Touch – Love this. The first track to really grab my attention. Maybe because she sings both in Japanese and English so it doesn’t sound out of place. It also has an almost retro melody and it just sounds better as it goes. A lighthearted cute track.
Birthday – A nice follow up from Golden Touch. In what we’d call a rare moment, Namie is seen flashing endless smiles in the music video as she celebrates her birthday with friends, trying new clothes etc. I haven’t been a fan of hers for long so when I saw how overjoyed her fans were when she smiled in concerts, it’s kind of weird? But now that I realized she rarely smiled in the past, no wonder her fans are easily delighted with tiniest bit of smile or gesture. It also helps that this track is fun and catchy. Almost sounds like something Katy Perry would sing, not a bad case in Namie’s context.
It – The whistle-like intro is damn catchy! Such a pity it’s the shortest track, under 3 minutes. ‘If love’s a game, I just wanna be it.’ She’s referencing a game of tag. Well, maybe keeping it short is the way to go but I still wish they’d made an extra effort to insert a bridge.
Scream – ‘Cool’ Namie is back in this full-fledged EDM track. I don’t even care how much autotune is present here, as long as it works to put the music across, it’s fine. At least, they didn’t ruin her vocals like some other artists’. I guess this would make a good workout song so the next time you go to the gym, make sure this is in your playlist. It kind of pumps you up.
Fashionista – This reminds me so much of her older stuffs, some parts of the melody (claps, trumpets, beats) sounds eerily like Hide and Seek. The whole structure of the song is a bit cluttered and all over the place. She’s feisty and has the swag to carry the song though. Also her fast lines during the bridge, did she just sing like a native? Too bad I just don’t feel the song itself.
Fly – She just slurred through the entire song I can’t even catch what she’s saying most of the time. Didn’t leave much of an impression either. A weak faux Scream 2.0. There’s potential but only if she actually sings the lines properly.
B Who I Want 2 B (feat. Hatsune Miku) – What a shocker? Namie collaborating with Miku lol. It’s actually not a bad track, to be absolutely honest here. I was listening to this on the plane and at the time, I had no idea it was Hatsune Miku, I just knew someone else was singing together with her and obviously, their vocals are autotuned to the max. This song is unique however and really really simplistic. Even if anyone hates Miku (I don’t however) and I don’t even listen to Miku. So that being said, I still think this song is actually pretty cool and the minimalism works gorgeously.
Stranger – The kind of song that sounds best when you max the volume. It’s mediocre though, not really digging it. Generic.
Every Woman – Overall, probably one of the weakest track and a filler in the album. By the time the song ends, I can’t recall how it went anymore.
Space Invader – The intro makes me think this might turn out fine and different. It sure feels fresh but not quite there. This filler track is like a random song she throws in the album with no real purpose whatsoever.
Anything – The ballad of the album, fitting and quite inspiring.
What I Did For Love (David Guetta feat. Namie Amuro) – Thankfully, her English is bearable here. Started out as a ballad before transitioning into more upbeat in the chorus. I still prefer Anything.
Is this better than FEEL?
Overall, it is a definite step up from FEEL. I won’t say it’s miles better because FEEL actually has some solid tracks that can stand on their own and actually memorable. This album surpasses FEEL in the fact that it’s more focused with an overall dedicated electronica sound while FEEL is a bit all over the place, giving different genres. In some ways, I miss the FEEL sound and her previous albums’ because she offered more Japanese-sounding tracks there and the ballads are mostly stronger. So I’ll just describe it this way, FEEL still has a more oriental sound while _genic is more Westernized. In fact, _genic is filled from top to bottom with US Top 40 hits.
Namie sounds more confident in this album, maybe she’s more comfortable singing in a foreign language now. However, she still has room to improve because honestly, I was straining my ears just to pick what she sings in most tracks. So don’t spin the album and expect her to sing like a native American. In some tracks, although rarely, she pronounced the lyrics quite well, but in 70% of the rest, it’s a hit or miss situation. I wish she’d switch back to Japanese for more tracks soon, though I don’t see that happening. Although she’d mentioned that singing the songs in English, in their original language makes it flow better and such, I can’t agree 100% to that. Because if I can’t understand her even in English, so what’s the point? In that case, I’d much rather she sings in Japanese.
I also think the production for this album is kinda rushed. I read she hand picked the tracks from like hundreds of demos in a short span of time? I’m not going to exaggerate and put down her choices because she did make some great selections, but it still feels lacking.
Score: 8/10 – a good effort but not showing its full potential. I think it’s time for her to switch it up for her next album and ditching EDM would be a great way to kick off.
Pity that Tsuki and Brighter Day didn’t make it into this album. I think it’s because of the label switch. Well, those two won’t really fit into this album anyways so maybe that’s a good choice.
Ritsu no Jpop Land 