Set for a June 19 release, Hikaru Utada's third album, "Deep River," doesn't contain any major surprises, staying true to the pop/R&B synthesis that has proven so successful for the singer since she burst onto the scene with her debut single, "Automatic/Time Will Tell," back in December 1998.
Besides previously released hit singles "Traveling," "Final Distance," "Hikari" and "Sakura Drops/Letters" (No. 1 on the May 20 Oricon hit chart), "Deep River" contains eight new tracks. Most interesting among them is "Uso Mitai na I Love You (Looks Like a Lie I Love You)," which, unusually, features some loud electric guitar high up in the mix.
The overall mood on "Deep River" is one of romantic longing, which Utada accentuates by employing her trademark vibrato-laden vocal style. Take the darkly atmospheric track "A.S.A.P.," which features the lyrics: "Waiting at the traffic lights, as the wind dies down, I suddenly become uneasy/I go past the crossing and suddenly I want to meet you in this neighborhood."