Don't be on the defensive;

For the next song I'm going to talk about I'm not expecting many people to pay attention because well... It's Japanese. Andddd most people I know only want to listen to music in their own native language, which is beyond lame.

So here we have Ayu's newest single. And in case you weren't aware, Ayu is basically the Britney Spears of Japan, only she used to be a model, is in 198321083 more commercials, and doesn't lip sync. So back to the song... It's titled "Sparkle". Opposed to previous Ayu tracks it has a pretty strong electro undertone to it. (Because most of the rest of the world is smart and knows that Techno/Electro > Rap/HipHop.) It still feels like pop-rock though, so don't expect anything on the level of Perfume or capsule here. But I really enjoy the sound of the track.

As for the video it's kind of weird. To me it is Britney Spears Oops I Did it Again meets Lady Gaga meets gas masks?? Yeah you read right, gas masks. It definitely has some things that you would not ever see in a "popular" artist over here, that's for sure. I'm not quite sure I'm sold on the creepy gas mask dancers, butttt... knowing Japanese culture compared to ours, I could see how it could work. As a side note, the tight vinyl-esque suits she is wearing show off her super tiny model frame. I had no idea how tiny she really was until this video! But none the less she manages to make everything look hot, minus the over the hooker boots she wears in the black outfit... because those she could have done without.