Past Future
Past
Past
The only physical single to be released from the album is the double A-side single "Wild/Dr." The single was a commercial success, becoming Amuro's eleventh chart-topper on the Oricon Singles Chart, as well as "Wild" being her second chart-topper on the Billboard Japan Hot 100. The album additionally features the promotional singles "Fast Car," "My Love" and "Copy That," with the latter two appearing in "Premium Vidal Sassoon" commercials that starred Amuro herself. Amuro promoted Past
Background and development
In July 2008, Amuro released the greatest hits album Best Fiction. The album was extremely successful, selling 681,187 copies in the first week and debuting at number one on the Oricon Albums Chart. Within its third week, Best Fiction sold over one million units, making her the first artist to have a million-selling album in three consecutive life generations. Best Fiction spent six consecutive weeks at the number-one position, becoming the first album to do so in more than 14 years since Dreams Come True's 1993 album Magic. By the end of 2008, Best Fiction became the year's second best-selling album right behind Exile's Exile Love. In addition, it became the second best-selling digital-format album by a Japanese artist behind Hikaru Utada's Heart Station. Best Fiction was awarded the Album of the Year award at the 50th Japan Record Awards.To promote the album, Amuro embarked on the Best Fiction Tour, which ran from October 25, 2008, to July 12, 2009. It was estimated that she played to an audience as high as 500,000, potentially the largest audience of her career to that point. The Live DVD and Blu-ray of the tour were released on September 9, 2009.
Amuro first revealed in the March 2009 issue of S Cawaii that she was preparing a new album which she would begin recording during her Best Fiction Tour. In the interview, she also confirmed that the direction of the album would be different from her previous album. Confirmation of the impending release of Amuro's ninth studio album occurred several months later when media outlets began to report new commercials with new songs by the singer would appear not in a new single, but a new album in the near future.
On October 22, 2009, it was announced that Amuro would have a new album coming out by the end of the year, with its title being undecided at the time. On November 26, 2009, the album title was revealed along with its cover art. Amuro stated that she saw Past
Composition
Unlike Play, which was produced solely by Michico and T.Kura of Giant Swing Productions and Nao'ymt, Amuro sought other writers and producers for this project. Dsign Music, a Scandinavian production team, was the first to reveal that they had written new material for Amuro on their official website on June 12, 2009. In a blog entry, songwriter/producer, Hiro, who has written for other artists including Kumi Koda and J Soul Brothers, confirmed that he produced "My Love." The lyrics to "Love Game" were written by R&B artist Double, who Amuro previously collaborated with on the song "Black Diamond" a year prior. "Steal My Night" was written by urban-pop producer Jeff Miyahara.The album begins with R&B track "Fast Car." "Copy That" is an upbeat song that features a "James Bond theme"-style intro. "Love Game" is a dance-pop song with lyrics comparing love to boxing. The song "Bad Habit" is a club track with a heavy bassline. "Steal my Night" is a song with a reggaeton beat that was also used in 2005's "Want Me, Want Me." "First Timer" is a techno-pop song that includes a rap feature from Doberman Inc.
"Wild" is an up-tempo electropop song that incorporates synthesizers and keyboards. Although the sound was created with a dance-oriented rhythm, Michico and T. Kura revealed that the lyrics had a deeper meaning that reflected Japan's freefalling childbirth rate. As a result, they desired to write lyrics that conveyed an important social message while also attempting to "have fun" and "get wild." "Dr." is an R&B and opera-inspired dance-pop song which samples an orchestral section from "Boléro", composed by French conductor Maurice Ravel. "Shut Up" is a song with rock elements, which is further enhanced by the vocal effects. "My Love" is a US-style R&B song that uses synth sounds and autotune. "The Meaning Of Us" is a piano-driven pop ballad. The album's closing number, "Defend Love," is a futuristic club track.
Release and formats
PastPromotion
Amuro appeared as a secret guest at the 1st anniversary event of the fashion magazine Ginger held in Tokyo on March 27, 2010; other celebrities such as Yamada Yu, Karina Nose, Maki Nishiyama, Hiromi Go and Hitomi also appeared at the event. In May 2010, Amuro became the first Asian female artist to appear at the world's largest music festival, World Music Awards, held in the Principality of Monaco. She also became the second Japanese act to perform at the event, 17 years after Chage and Aska did so in 1993. In June 2010, Tatsunoko Productions designed Amuro as a Tatsunoko-style character under the title "Amuro Meets Tatsunoko"; Coca-Cola Zero cans and cookies with illustrations were sold at her tour venues and on the Vision Factory website.Singles and other songs
The only physical single to be released from this album is the double A-side single "Wild/Dr." The single was a success, becoming her eleventh number one on the Oricon Singles Chart. "Wild" became her second number one on the Japan Hot 100, according to Billboard Japan. The single sold over 119,000 units in Japan, her seventh highest-selling single in the 2000s decade, and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for exceeding shipments of 100,000 units. Both "Wild" and "Dr." served as advertising jingles for Coca-Cola Zero and Vidal Sassoon respectively. After the release of the single "Wild/Dr.," the first songs to be promoted from the album were "My Love" and "Copy That," which appeared in new commercials for Vidal Sassoon. They premiered on the web first and later on television in October 2009. "My Love" would later make its radio premiere on J-Wave's Groove Line on October 27. Both "My Love" and "Copy That" were released as ringtones online on November 18. Two more songs from the album, "Fast Car" and "The Meaning Of Us" also made their radio premieres on November 23 and 24.Music videos
The music video for "Fast Car" was directed by Shigeaki Kubo. It has an Elizabethan theme, but is primarily a dance video. The "Fast Car" video won two awards at the Space Shower Music Awards: the grand prize for the best work of the year, "Best Video of the Year," and the "Best Art Direction Video." The music video for "Love Game" was also directed by Shigeaki Kubo; it depicts Amuro and her dancers having various dance battles on digital stages, with the teams distinguished by the color of their outfits. The music video for "Wild" was directed by Caviar, which features a futuristic space theme and costumes.The music video for "The Meaning Of Us," which was directed by Shigeaki Kubo, features Amuro alone in a house during several timelines and the video alternates between these scenes. The music video for "Dr." is entirely animated and is Amuro's first fully animated music video. It was animated by Kamikaze Douga, and directed by Mizusaki Junpei. Tanakazoo directed the music video for "Defend Love." The "Defend Love" music video was a collaboration with Sunrise Animation, featuring Namie Amuro as an animated character interacting with Amuro Ray of Mobile Suit Gundam. Part of the video re-creates the encounter between Amuro Ray and Lalah Sune in the Ghost of Solomon event, with Namie Amuro in place of Lalah piloting a pink Elmeth.