Re(cord) (stylized as re(CORD)) is the sixteenth studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Koda Kumi. It was released on November 13, 2019, which coincided with Kumi's 37th birthday. It was released in four editions: CD only, CD+DVD, CD+Blu-ray and a CD+3DVD fan club edition.
Prior to the album, Kumi released nine digital singles to help promote the album: "Eh Yo", "Summer Time", "Do Me", "Goldfinger 2019", "Put Your Hands Up!!!", "OMG", "Strip", "Get Naked" and "Again". Of those released, three had corresponding music videos. "Goldfinger 2019", "Strip" and "Again".
It debuted at number four on the weekly Oricon Albums Chart.
Background
The album was preceded by nine digital singles: "Eh Yo", "Summer Time", "Do Me", "Goldfinger 2019", "Put Your Hands Up!!!", "OMG", "Strip", "Get Naked" and "Again". All nine singles were placed on the album.
The album was released in four editions: CD only, CD+DVD, CD+Blu-ray and a limited fan club CD+3DVD edition.
The CD contained four new tracks, along with the previously released digital singles and the unreleased cover of Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca", which had been released on avex's official YouTube in July. The first DVD and Blu-ray contained the corresponding music videos for "Again", "Goldfinger 2019" and the aforementioned "Livin' La Vida Loca", and the album exclusive "k,", along with a dance version. The second and third DVD were only released on the CD+3DVD fan club edition. The second DVD housed the behind-the-scenes making videos for the music videos "Goldfinger 2019" and "Livin' La Vida Loca", and the overall making video for the album. The third DVD held the making video for "Again".
To help promote the album, four of the nine singles were used for promotional purposes. "Eh Yo" was used as the Hanazono support song for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. She performed "Summer Time", "Eh Yo" and "Do Me" during a-nation 2019 on August 18, 2019. On August 10, She performed the cover of Hiromi Go's "Goldfinger '99" at the 2019 Jingu Gaien Fireworks Festival. "Strip" was used as the theme song for part two of Otona no Tsuchi Dora series.
Promotional activities
To help promote the album, some of the songs were used for promotional purposes.
"Eh Yo" was used as the Hanazono support song for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Koda Kumi debuted the song on June 15, 2019, with a performance at Tennōji Park in Tennōji-ku, Osaka for the "100 Days To Go" event. She also performed "Eh Yo" during TV Tokyo's Music Festival 2019, along with her 2007 song "Ai no Uta".
She performed "Summer Time", "Eh Yo" and "Do Me" during a-nation 2019 on August 18, 2019. On August 10, Kumi performed the cover of Hiromi Go's "Goldfinger '99" at the 2019 Jingu Gaien Fireworks Festival.
"Strip" was used as the theme song for part two of the Tokai TV and Fuji TV series Otona no Tsuchi Dora (オトナの土ドラ), titled Rika (リカ). A special promotional video was uploaded on avex's official YouTube on October 15, 2019. The album exclusive track "Merry Go Round" was used in a television commercial for T-Garden's loveil contact lenses.
Commercial performance
Re(cord) debuted in the top five of the daily Oricon Albums Charts at No. 4, becoming Kumi's third consecutive album to not take the number one spot (AND charted at No 6 and DNA charted at No. 2). Within the first week, the album sold 13,533 copies.
By the end of the second week, the album had dropped in rank to No. 49, selling an additional 940 units.
Single: Eh Yo
"Eh Yo" is the first single released by Japanese artist Koda Kumi post her studio albums DNA and And, and sixty-third overall. It became her first single in nearly two years, with her last being "Never Enough" (2017). It also became the first of three digital singles she would release in July 2019, alongside "Summer Time" and "Do Me".
The single was released as a digital single on July 3, 2019.
Information
"Eh Yo" is the sixty-third single released by Japanese singer-songwriter Koda Kumi on July 3, 2019. It was officially announced on June 17, 2019, having debuted on June 15 with a performance at Tennōji Park. The single became her first in nearly two years, with her prior being Never Enough in December 2017.
Due to having no physical release, the song did not chart on the Oricon Singles Chart. However, the song was given a five star ranking on the popular digital music store RecoChoku. The single was released as a digital download, and distributed among sites like RecoChoku, iTunes and Amazon Music.
The song was written and composed by Kumi's husband, Back-On lead vocalist Kenji, who is credited at "Hi-yunk". The lyrical portion was written by Kumi herself.