Ayumi Hamasaki Releases Jacket Design for Latest album “A ONE”

Scheduled for release on 8th April, the jacket design for Ayumi Hamasaki’s full original album “A ONE” and LIVE DVD & Blu-ray “ayumi hamasaki COUNTDOWN LIVE 2014-2015 A Cirque de Minuit ～真夜中のサーカス～” has been revealed. Making full use of natural light, the softness of Ayumi leaves a deep impression – one that reminds others of Ayumi Hamasaki’s beginning and starting point. Music video of “The GIFT”, a song recorded for the album “A ONE” and composed by Asia’s highly popular star JJ LIN has also been released, much to the delight of many fans.

Through an introduction from a mutual friend last fall, Ayumi made a request to JJ to compose a song. A heartwarming wedding ballad, combined with a beautiful melody and tender lyrics, was thus born. With JJ starring alongside Ayumi as hero and heroine to bring the feelings of “Love” to life, JJ memorized the Japanese lyrics to “The GIFT” upon filimg of the MV in Japan. There’s even a scene in the video where JJ and Ayumi sings a duet!

On “The GIFT”, Ayumi commented “JJ isn’t just amazing as an artist but he is also a wonderful person, you can just tell, it exudes his personality and it’s a beautiful song. The demo that he made with humming the lyrics was just amazing – I wanted to realize the song while staying faithful to the perspective that he had. I personally really love the song, it would make me really happy if this song would grow to become something that reminded you of the most important moments in your life.”

“The music video really matches the atmosphere JJ created, one that expresses the “purity” of the concept in its entirety. I’m really happy to have collaborated with JJ on both the song and music video.”

JJ Lin left a message saying “Before actually meeting Ayu, to me she was Asia’s J-pop queen. For someone who has challenged various song genres, this song is a ‘GIFT’ to her, as well as a ‘GIFT’ to her fans.”

“A ONE”
08/04/2015（Wed）ON SALE
CD　3,000yen（excl. tax）
CD＋DVD　3,800yen（excl. tax）
CD＋Blu-ray　4,200yen（excl. tax）

[TRACKLIST]
01. a Bell
02. WARNING
03. NO FUTURE
04. Anything for You
05. Last Minute
06. Zutto…
※YouTube｜https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9FeffhpF5w
07. Out of control
08. Story
09. The GIFT
10. The Show Must Go On
11. Walk

[DVD/Blu-ray]
・Zutto… (video clip)
・Last minute (video clip)
・The GIFT (video clip)
・WARNING (video clip)
・Zutto… (making clip)
・Last minute (making clip)
・The GIFT (making clip)
・WARNING (making clip)

“ayumi hamasaki COUNTDOWN LIVE 2014-2015 A Cirque de Minuit ～真夜中のサーカス～”
08/04/2015（Wed）ON SALE
DVD　5,800yen（excl. tax）
Blu-ray　6,800yen（excl. tax）

[Songlist］
01. Duty
02. Microphone
03. Energy Blasts
04. GAME
05. my name’s WOMEN
06. 1 LOVE
07. End roll
08. Zutto…
※YouTube｜https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZbfYWei1QQ
09. Last minute
※YouTube｜https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QukiZlJ8CoY
10. Tears
11. Walk
12. forgiveness
13. progress
14. SURREAL ～ evolution ～ SURREAL
15. NOW & 4EVA
16. Movin’ on without you
YouTube｜https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSEkrqnJVM0
17. XOXO
18. Lelio
19. Boys & Girls
20. how beautiful you are
21. Born To Be…