First things first – I absolutely hate the cover art for this single. It looks like something you would create for a horror flick.
The digital imaging was so poorly done. The colour palette is most unfortunate. And for heaven’s sake, that’s a Gerbera daisy, not a Sakura!!! Sheeesh. I can’t decide if this or the MEB cover is worse. Or the Folk Songs Andy Warhol ones. It begs the question if the creative brief from the marketing department was “to create the ugliest single cover art possible” in keeping with the fugly cover art streak? Honestly, how did the graphic designer land the job? And how on earth does something like that get approved?
I won’t post the cover art here but you can see it in the photo below. And yes, WHY ON EARTH DIDN’T THEY USE THE POSTER IMAGE AS THE COVER? All that crappy c-grade photoshopping has to stop. Please. I am this close to slashing my wrists with the CD.
Universal Japan, if you’re reading this, please note that I’d gladly work on any cover art for Akina releases for free.
Now that we’ve got that out of my system…. OMG, this single is SOLID GOLD (if you can get past the depressing cover)!!
I can’t get enough of “ひらり-SAKURA”!! I suspect that many of us will have to make changes to our personal Top 10 Akina Songs list and make way for a new contender! Just when you think Akina has reached the pinnacle of her continued evolution as a vocalist with her recent FIXER album, she drops another tour de force winner, outdoing herself once again. The track is an insanely gratifying tornado – Akina delivers a super confident performance and you can tell she really enjoyed working on this number. I particularly love the drop before the final chorus where the piano climbs and climbs before she punches with 風に ひらり 舞って ひらり!! *SCREEEAAAMMM*
We are back to the good old 90s! They don’t write songs like this anymore.
As for the “FIXER WTWAS” single cut – YAAAASSSS!!! That’s how you rework a song and breathe new life into it. That’s how you do a remix. Akina’s official remixes are prone to being lazy extended versions so this is a very very pleasant surprise. I love how the modules of the track have been rearranged with new elements which were absent in the album cut. I love both versions equally. The album cut leaves you wanting more cos it’s too short but is a brilliant opener. The single cut satiates the appetite.
BAM. FIXER. KAKKOOIIIIIII.
Thank you Akina!!
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Thanks Dan for another wonderful update. I wonder if the UJ creative team was given a “Let’s create the worst cover for Akina to force her to come out of her hiatus and take control again”. That being said, MEB was her idea, albeit poorly executed.
While the UJ creative team continues to disappoint, Akina moves in the opposite direction with her music releases with the album and now this wonderful single. I can’t get enough of the two songs and I think we need to collectively try to spread WOM across our own channels and the Japanese across radio stations to get these songs noticed.