
(January 21 -New York, NY) In the small world of pop artists who write
their own music enters the big voice of artist/songwriter Utada who is
set to reveal her new single “Come Back to Me” this month. Utada,
already one of the world’s biggest recording artists, will release her
new album on March 24, 2009 on The Island Def Jam Music Group.
“Come Back to Me”, the soulful yet energetic ballad produced by the
hitmaking team Stargate (Ne-Yo, Rihanna, Beyonce), will officially
debut on pop radio on February 9th and will be available via iTunes.
The sparkling, mid-tempo hit showcases the 26-year-old singer’s
powerful husky-sweet vocals and natural effervescence, placing her
indisputably into the landscape with major female artists like Madonna,
Beyonce, Rihanna and Mariah Carey.
Utada’s forthcoming album is comprised of 10 self-penned songs recorded
with top producers Stargate and Tricky (Britney Spears, Madonna, Mariah
Carey). Recording took place in New York, Atlanta and Tokyo.
On creating the album Utada comments, “I like to make music that’s
mutli-layered. You might just want to dance, without really diving into
the lyrics. And then if you like words, you might notice the references
I make to Captain Picard or Winona Ryder. Both things are equally
important to me—to be catchy, so when you hear it on the radio it
sticks out, and to have that depth. "
Producer Stargate comments, “Working with Utada was great. She walks
in, has confidence about her, integrity, and a voice that you can’t
believe. We were really blown away.”
Born and raised in Manhattan and educated at Columbia University,
Hikaru Utada had strong ties to Japan as her father, Utada Teruzane,
was an accomplished musician and producer and her mother, Keiko Fuji,
was a successful Japanese enka (ballad) singer. With such a musically
prolific family, Utada would reside between New York City and Tokyo and
the recording studio literally became her second home. By age 11, Utada
had written and recorded her first song. By the time she graduated from
junior high school, the bi-lingual singer had signed onto a major
record label EMI and released her first Japanese album. With a number
of album and single releases over the last ten years in Japan, the
young star has become one of the most successful and acclaimed pop
singers in Japanese music history with record sales of over 52
million.