It's the title that grabs you first. Hikaru Utada's seventh album makes a conspicuous nod to her 1999 debut, but the preternaturally mature teen of "First Love" is now a twice-divorced mother with ample life experience to draw on.
However, on the title track of "Hatsukoi" (yup: "First Love" again), she sounds like she still has much to learn: "If I'd never met you / I don't think anyone / Could ever have made me feel like this."
The song, a string-laden piano ballad every bit as lovely as her 2001 torch song, "Final Distance," forms the emotional core of the album. While many listeners will probably search for references to Utada's recent divorce from Francesco Calliano, her husband since 2014, the abiding message of "Hatsukoi" is one of resilience — of learning to smile through the tears, and accepting heartbreak as part of the package.