Deep River (Hikaru Utada album)

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Deep River
UtadaHikaruDEEPRIVER.jpg
Studio album by
Hikaru Utada
ReleasedJune 19, 2002
Recorded2001–2002
Genre
Length54:54
LabelToshiba-EMI
Producer
Hikaru Utada chronology
Distance
(2001) 		Deep River
(2002) 		Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 1
(2004)
Singles from Deep River
  1. "Final Distance"
    Released: July 25, 2001
  2. "Traveling"
    Released: November 28, 2001
  3. "Hikari"
    Released: March 20, 2002
  4. "Sakura Drops / Letters"
    Released: May 9, 2002

Deep River is the third studio album (fourth overall) released by Japanese singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada, released on June 19, 2002. It sold just over 2.35 million copies in its first week of release,[1] charting at number one on the weekly, monthly and yearly Oricon charts. Deep River is ranked as Japan's fifth-highest album in debut sales, and eighth in the all-time album sales in Japan.

The final track, "Hikari", would be her first single to reach number one on the Oricon Weekly Singles chart three times, and the Japanese version of the theme song for Square Enix's RPG video game, Kingdom Hearts. The English version, "Simple and Clean", (released on her "Colors" single), also accompanied promotion of Kingdom Hearts in overseas versions. The album was cited by many fans and critics as Utada's most acclaimed work, as well as achieving the Triple Crown at the 17th Golden Disc Awards in Japan.[2]

According to the IFPI, the album is listed at number 18 on the Top 50 Global Best Selling Albums for 2002.[3]

Track listing[]

All tracks are written by Hikaru Utada.

No.TitleLength
1."Sakura Drops (SAKURAドロップス, Sakura Doroppusu)"4:58
2."Traveling"5:14
3."Shiawase ni Narō (幸せになろう, Let's Be Happy)"4:46
4."Deep River"4:37
5."Letters"4:48
6."Play Ball (プレイ・ボール, Purei Bōru)"4:14
7."Tokyo Nights (東京NIGHTS)"4:43
8."A.S.A.P."4:56
9."Uso Mitai na I Love You (嘘みたいな I Love You, The Dubious I Love You)"4:49
10."Final Distance"5:38
11."Bridge (Interlude)"1:09
12."Hikari (光, Light)"5:02

All songs were arranged by Kei Kawano and Hikaru Utada, except for the following:

  • 1. "Sakura Drops" – arrangement: Hikaru Utada and Kei Kawano (the order of the name was changed)
  • 7. "Tokyo Nights" – with string arrangement: Kei Kawano
  • 8. "A.S.A.P." – arrangement: Yuichiro Honda, additional rhythm track arrangement: Kei Kawano and Hikaru Utada
  • 10. "Final Distance" – with string arrangement: Neko Saito

Singles[]

Date Title Peak position Weeks Sales
July 25, 2001 "Final Distance" 2 13 582,120
November 28, 2001 "Traveling" 1 21 856,140
March 20, 2002 "Hikari" 1 13 598,130
May 9, 2002 "Sakura Drops/Letters" 1 10 686,720

Personnel[]

Credits adapted from the album’s liner notes.[4]

Vocals[]

Instrumentation[]

  • Hikaru Utada – arrangement (all tracks)
  • Kawano Kei – arrangement (track 1), additional arrangement (track 8), keyboards, cembalo (track 7), guitar sample (track 2), drums (track 9)
  • Saito Neko – string arrangement (track 10), violin (track 11)
  • Akira Hironori – acoustic guitar (tracks 4-5, 12), electric guitar (tracks 1-6), electric sitar (track 4)
  • Honda Larry Yuchiro – arrangement, string arrangement, keyboards (track 8), acoustic guitar (track 5), electric guitar, electric bass (track 9), guitar sample (track 1)
  • Kon Tsuyoshi – acoustic guitar (track 4)
  • Char – acoustic guitar (track 5)
  • Toriyama Yuji – acoustic guitar (track 5)
  • HISASHI – acoustic guitar (track 5)
  • Utada Sking Teruzane – acoustic guitar (track 5)
  • Kanzo – guitar sample (track 1)
  • Saito Mitsutaka – electric bass (track 2)
  • Great Eida Strings – strings (tracks 7, 10)
  • Abe Masahi Cello Octet – strings (track 8)
  • Ishibashi Masakazu – oboe (track 7)

Production[]

  • Hikaru Utada – songwriting (all tracks), executive production
  • Utada Sking Teruzane – executive production
  • Miyake Akira – executive production

Technical[]

  • Hikaru Utada – basic programming
  • Tad Jensen – mastering
  • Ugajin Masaaki – recording
  • Matsui Atsushi – recording
  • Goh Hotoda – recording, mixing
  • Kawano Kei – programming (all tracks)
  • Honda Larry Yuchiro – programming (track 8)
  • Tsunemi Kazuhide – synthesizer programming (all tracks)

Artwork[]

  • Kiriya Kazuaki – art direction, photography
  • Cho Kenji – art direction, design
  • Mayama Yuki – styling
  • Inagaki Ryoji – hair, make-up

Charts[]

Japan (Oricon)

Release Chart Peak position Debut sales Sales total Chart run
June 19, 2002 Oricon Daily Albums Chart 1
June 19, 2002 Oricon Weekly Albums Chart 1 2,350,170 3,605,000 56
June 19, 2002 Oricon Yearly Albums Chart 1

References[]

  1. ^ ORICON STYLE – Weekly album chart： 1st week of July 2002
  2. ^ RIAJ – 17th Japan Gold Disc Award 2003
  3. ^ IFPI Top 50 Global Best Selling Albums for 2002 Archived January 17, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2011-04-08
  4. ^ Deep River (booklet). Hikaru Utada. Toshiba-EMI. 2002. TOCT-24819.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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