Love Letter (ALBUM+DVD / Jacket A)(Japan Version) DVD Region 2

As the album title suggests (like the rest of Ai's other album titles do), the theme of Love Letter is various stages of love, with each track written as an individual love letter. However, the major difference this time around is purely musical, with a heavier use of live instruments and Ai putting out her more vulnerable side on display. This is apparent in opening titular track Love Letter (Track 1), which features only Ai's voice and her own piano arrangement. Ai delivers the sweet love ballad in a natural style without any studio modification and the result may be a slightly weaker-than-usual vocal performance, but it's also effectively sweet with its simplicity and intimacy.

Even though Love Letter does feature Ai's style of energetic pop, it has shifted slightly from its sometimes-grating bubble gum perkiness to a more rock-oriented sound. Typically energetic tracks such as Rocket Monster (Track 2) and Bye Bye (Track 3) have a familiar sense of energy and youth, but Ai and co-arranger Ikoman switch up the usual formula of fast-paced electric guitar and experimental arrangement with a somewhat slower pace and a heavy use of piano. A more mature style of Ai Otsuka bubble gum rock may take some time to get used to, but the newfound restraint is certainly welcome to those who find her previous works more annoying than cute.

Even the more upbeat second half, which Ai said in an interview was a somewhat intentional choice to keep the album's tone light, finds a balance between the new and old Ai. Do☆Positive (Track 8) is sometimes too grating with its bombastic guitar arrangement, but Creamy & Spicy (Track 7) represents the newfound balance between Ai's old kawai style and her new mature rock sound. While the arrangement has the electric guitar sound consistent with the rest of the album, Ai's composition and vocal style is a welcome return to the Ai that fans are more familiar with that doesn't grate at all.

The ballads in Love Letter also stay close to the successful formula; the single Kurage, Nagareboshi (Track 4) is even a continuation of her last hit ballad Planetarium. A bittersweet ballad about long-distance love, the lyrics' fantastic imagery and the romantic composition are nothing new in Ai's music. However, Ai's expressive vocal delivery gives Kurage, Nagareboshi a sadder and more mature tone that makes this somewhat different from her past ballad hits. On the other hand, the ballad Pocket may have served as a major thematic influence on the album's other ballads as Ai claimed it did, but it's also musically the weakest ballad on the album with its unspectacular composition and arrangement. Closing song Ai (Track 13) is an affecting mid-tempo ballad that sums up the album nicely both thematically and musically.

While the album's ballads remain standard pop material, Love Letter also features a major surprise in the form of Shachihata (Track 10), a big-band jazz track solely arranged by veteran musician Masanori Sasaji. Featuring a real live jazz band and scatting by an unrecognizable Ai, the lively jazz track is easily the most ambitious piece of music in Ai's career, and it proves that she can do more than cute pop music. The following track, One x Time (track 11) also nicely holds on to the breezy jazz tone Shachihata establishes with a relaxing lounge rhythm and a very light vocal performance, though the arrangement is somewhat too busy for its own good at times. This small section effectively marks the maturation of Ai and easily marks some of the best work she's done in her short career.

Ai has said that Love Letter marks the end of a period in her career. However, for a pop star who has found success with two distinct musical styles for such an extended period of time, it's hard to imagine that fans will buy into anything that marks a major change from the happy-in-love music Ai has excelled in. Nevertheless, Love Letter manages to represent a change in musical style without any major thematic departure that would leave fans scratching their heads. While the decreasing sales of the album's singles suggest that her fans may not be ready to grow up with Ai, it is intriguing to see what her next step will be.

Recommended Tracks: Love Letter (Track 1), Rocket Monster (Track 2), Kurage, Nagareboshi (Track 4), Creamy & Spicy (Track 7), Shachihata (Track 10), One x Time (Track 11), Ai (Track 13)

by Kevin Ma