Free Free

"Free Free"

The artwork portrays Suzuki kneeling down on the floor while multi-coloured lights surround her. "Free Free/Super Music Maker; Ami Suzuki joins Yasutaka Nakata" is written on the bottom of the cover.

Promotional CD artwork
Single by Ami Suzuki joins Yasutaka Nakata
from the album Dolce
B-side "Super Music Maker"
Released 22 August 2007
Format
Genre Eropop
Length 5:11
Label Avex Trax
Writer(s) Yasutaka Nakata
Producer(s) Nakata
Ami Suzuki singles chronology
Soremo kitto shiawase
(2007)		 "Free Free/Super Music Maker"
(2007)		 Potential Breakup Song
(2007)

"Free Free" is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist Ami Suzuki for her sixth studio album, Dolce (2008). Featuring Japanese record producer and Capsule member Yasutaka Nakata, the track was released through Avex Trax as a double a-side single with her fellow recording, "Super Music Maker", on 22 August 2007. "Free Free" and "Super Music Maker" were both written and produced by Nakata. Backed by synthesizers and keyboards, "Free Free" incorporates a new genre called "Eropop" which Nakata created when producing the song by combining 1980s pop music, house music, disco and electronic dance music within its sound. The lyrical interpretation of the track was based on themes of erotica and freedom.

"Free Free" was received well by music critics, with some of them praising the song's instrumentation and highlighting it as a stand-out track of Suzuki's career. Charting together with "Super Music Maker", the physical single reached number 32 on the Japanese Oricon Singles Chart, where it has spent two weeks. "Free Free" sold over 10,000 units in Japan; this marks her highest-selling recording since 2006 and her last single to date to reach this limit. An accompanying music video for "Free Free" was shot by Takashiro Akihisa and features Suzuki lying on the floor of an empty room full of LED lamps and flickering television.

To promote "Free Free", Suzuki hosted a release party event at Tower Records in Shibuya. She also performed the single on her 2007 A-Nation concert. Furthermore, Suzuki went on singing other songs from her discography at various other venues and gigs. Both the audio and the music video of "Free Free" have been included on Suzuki's greatest hits compilation, Ami Selection (2011), and on her greatest hits extended play, Ami Suzuki Best Selection (2014).

Background and composition
"Free Free"
A 25-seconds sample of "Free Free", showcasing its incorporating of a new genre called "Eropop" which Nakata created when producing the song by combining 80s pop music, house music, disco and electronic dance music within its sound.[1][2]
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After the release of her album, Connetta (2007), Suzuki performed in various Japanese night clubs and her staff that were present at the time of her performances noticed her engagement to club music and tried to find a producer who had a background in electronic dance music and eventually contacted Nakata. He accepted an offer to produce two tracks for Dolce. Concerning the production, Suzuki commented that "[she] [wants] to put out a whole new view of the world".[2]

"Free Free" was written, produced, composed and arranged by Japanese musician and Capsule member Yasutaka Nakata. It is his first single in collaboration with Suzuki under the alias "Ami Suzuki joins Yasutaka Nakata";[3] "Free Free" is Suzuki's first single to be handled by Nataka.[4] The track was recorded in early 2007 at Avex Studio in Tokyo, Japan, and was co-distributed by Nakata's label, Contemode, owned by Avex and Yamaha.[5] For the song, Suzuki's vocals have been processed with autotune and vocoder. "Free Free" is influenced by 1980s pop music, house music, disco and electronic dance music.[1] While producing the track, Nakata created a new genre called "Eropop".[2] "Free Free" features lyrics written in both English and Japanese, making the track Suzuki's first English-language release.[4][upper-alpha 1] The lyrical interpretation of the song was based on themes of erotica and freedom, where Suzuki commented that "the theme [of the track] is to sound erotic"[2]

Release and artwork

"Free Free" was released as a double a-side single with "Super Music Maker" for digital download and physical release on 22 August 2007 by Avex as the lead single for Suzuki's sixth studio album, Dolce (2008).[7][8] It was released in three different formats: stand-alone CD single, CD/ DVD bundle and digital download.[4][9] The CD and digital release features an extended edit of "Free Free" and the radio edit of "Super Music Maker".[4] The DVD release is registered under NTSC Region 2 and contains the official music video for the single.[9] An exclusive vinyl was made available for purchase in Japan through Rhythm Republic on 29 August 2007; it features an extended version of "Free Free" and the original mix of "Super Music Maker".[10] Both songs were co-copyrighted and published through the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers.[4]

The cover sleeve for "Free Free" was photographed by Takashiro Akihisa, who also directed the accompanying music video for the song.[2] The DVD and CD releases of "Free Free" feature two separate cover artworks; the first portrays Suzuki bending over and the latter one Suzuki kneeling down.[4][9] Both artworks were shot in an empty room full of LED lamps.[4][9] An editor for the website Sanspo has compared the cover sleeve for "Free Free" to the artworks of Japanese recording artist Koda Kumi. He additionally described the shoot for the cover art of "Free Free" as "sexy".[2]

Reception

"Free Free" was met with positive reviews from selected music critics and reviewers. CD Journal was positive towards the track, labelling its sound as "80s nostalgic", "ultra-pop super cool" and erotic.[11] On Suzuki's artist page at the Japanese HMV website, both "Free Free" and "Super Music Maker" were listed as "masterpiece" formats from Suzuki's musical discography. An editorial review on the website labelled Nakata's collaboartion with Suzuki as "charmy". They went on to praise the cover sleeve for Suzuki's "great sense of fashion".[12] Japanese online retail store Technique gave the song a positive review, labelling it catchy and dreamy.[13]

Charting together as one single, "Free Free" and "Super Music Maker" entered and peaked at number 32 on the Japanese Oricon Singles Chart on 3 September 2007 with over 5,900 units sold, this being Suzuki's highest entry since her single, "Like a Love?" (2006).[14][15] Falling outside the top fifty in its second week, "Free Free/Super Music Maker" stayed in the top 100 for four weeks, this marking her longest charting single since "Like a Love?" which only lasted for five weeks.[14] Her following singles, "One" and "Can't Stop the Disco", later tied with "Free Free/Super Music Maker" for the lasted weeks on the chart.[14] "Free Free/Super Music Maker" was Suzuki's first top forty hit inside the 2007 era and sold over 10,000 units, her highest-selling single since "Like a Love?" which sold 16,000 units. To date, it is Suzuki's final recording to reach the 10,000 sale limit.[16][upper-alpha 2] The double-single "Free Free/Super Music Maker" is ranked at number 21 on Suzuki's sales profile on Oricon.[17]

Music video

A scene from the music video of "Free Free", which mostly features Suzuki lying down in an empty club, being surrounded by LED lamps and flickering television.

The accompanying music video for "Free Free" took one day to shoot from the morning until 3am the following day.[18] Particularly, Suzuki felt that the video was cute and sexy.[18] The making of the video has been included on the DVD edition of Dolce.[19][20] The clip premiered on Japan's Yahoo! Music, while a short edit of the music video was uploaded on 2 September 2010 onto Avex's YouTube channel.[21][22] For further promotion, a DVD featuring the music video for "Free Free" has been made available for purchase in Japan.[9]

The music video opens with Suzuki's, Nakata's and the song's name being zoomed out onto Suzuki. The next scene shows her sitting down on a multi-coloured chair, being surrounded by LED lights and flickering television; some cut scenes feature Nakata. Subsequently, Suzuki starts singing the song while lying on top of a neon surface. Next, the chorus start with all the LED lights changing colors. Throughout the video, there are several mirrored shots of Suzuki lying down, for which green screening has been used to clone her five times and dance to the song.[21] During the shoot, Suzuki commented that the music video portrayed a more sexy and erotic image in comparation with Nakata's previous works; she felt that the image suited the song and its composition.[2]

Live performances and other usage

Suzuki performed "Free Free" alongside her fellow single, "Delightful" (2005), at her 2007 A-Nation Concert and went on to sing at the 2009 A-Nation Concert, for which she included "Free Free", "Kiss Kiss Kiss", "Be Together" and "Delightful".[23][24][25] Suzuki has performed "Free Free" on several other occasions and events; she sang it at the Countdown Birthday Live in 2008, at a launch party at Tower Records, at Shinjuku on 26 August 2007, at a launch for "One" at Club Asia on 15 July 2008, at the 2007 Kyoto Summer Festivaland at the Passage Summer Festival 2007.[2][26][27][28][29] The music video for "Free Free" and its official audio were featured on Suzuki's greatest hits compilation album, Ami Selection (2011).[30] The song was also used for Suzuki's greatest hits extended play, Ami Suzuki Best Selection (2014).[31]

Formats and track listings

  • CD single and digital download[4][8]
  1. "Free Free" — 5:08
  2. "Super Music Maker" — 7:25
  3. "Free Free" (Extended edit) — 7:34
  4. "Super Music Maker" (Radio edit) — 5:05
  • CD and DVD bundle[9]
  1. "Free Free" — 5:08
  2. "Super Music Maker" — 7:25
  3. "Free Free" (Extended edit) — 7:34
  4. "Super Music Maker" (Radio edit) — 5:05
  5. "Free Free" (music video)
  1. "Free Free" (Extended edit) — 7:34
  2. "Super Music Maker" — 7:25
  • Album version digital download[32]
  1. "Free Free" (Radio edit) — 5:08

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of the promotional CD single.[4]

Management
Personnel

Charts and sales

Charts

Chart (2007) Peak
position
Japan Daily (Oricon)[14] 16
Japan Weekly (Oricon)[14] 32

Sales

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Japan (RIAJ) None 10,000[16]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

Country Date Format Label
Japan 22 August 2007 CD[33] Avex Trax
CD and DVD[4][9]
Digital download[8]

Notes

  1. ↑ The lyrics for "Free Free" feature English words in the introduction, verse and chorus piece, while the pre-choruses sections feature the lyrics "toumei na anata no omoi ga, kirei ni sasaru itai kurai, tomannai kokoro no AISORE-SHON, yurashite suimen mitai ni." With these sections only being recorded in Japanese, "Free Free" is considered an English-language song.[6]
  2. ↑ Sales provided by Oricon database are rounded to the nearest thousand copies.

References

  1. 1 2 "鈴木亜美 / Dolce [CD]" (in Japanese). CD Journal. 22 August 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 セクシーな鈴木亜美を一足早くお届け！新曲ＰＶはエロポップ (in Japanese). Sankei Sports. 14 July 2007. Archived from the original on 16 July 2007. Retrieved 18 December 2008.
  3. ↑ "Music Search Engine". GNU General Public License. FreeDB Database Search. Retrieved 22 July 2015. To find information, type in the keyword Yasutaka Nakata and then click on the bottom link
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Suzuki, Ami (2007). "Free Free/Super Music Maker booklet". Free Free/Super Music Maker (Liner notes). Ami Suzuki joins Yasutaka Nakata. Toyko, Japan: Avex Trax. p. 1. AVCD-31236.
  5. ↑ "Contemode". 17 May 2006. Archived from the original on 14 April 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  6. ↑ "鈴木亜美 / Ami Suzuki – Free Free lyrics". Oricon (in Japanese). 22 August 2007. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  7. ↑ "Ami Suzuki: Free Free/Super Music Maker". Amazon. 22 August 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 "Free Free/Super Music Maker on iTunes". iTunes Store (Japan). 22 August 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Suzuki, Ami (2007). "Free Free/Super Music Maker booklet". Free Free/Super Music Maker (DVD). Ami Suzuki joins Yasutaka Nakata. Tokyo, Japan: Avex Trax. p. 1. AVCD-31236.
  10. 1 2 Suzuki, Ami (2007). Free Free/Super Music Maker (Vinyl). Ami Suzuki joins Yasutaka Nakata. Toyko, Japan: Rhythmic Republic. RR12-88494.
  11. ↑ "Suzuki Ami joins Yasutaka Nakata / Free Free / Super Music Maker [CD]" (in Japanese). CD Journal. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  12. ↑ "鈴木亜美 / Ami Suzuki". HMV (in Japanese). 22 August 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  13. ↑ "Technique – Free Free" (in Japanese). Technique. 29 August 2007. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 鈴木亜美の作品 [List of Ami Suzuki's releases]. Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  15. ↑ 鈴木亜美の作品 [Oricon Weekly Singles – Chart Week 3 September 2007]. Oricon (in Japanese). 3 September 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  16. 1 2 "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」" [Oricon Ranking Information Service 'You Big Tree']. Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved 21 May 2014. (subscription required (help)).
  17. ↑ 鈴木亜美の作品 [Ami Suzuki's sales rank]. Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  18. 1 2 "Free Free: 鈴木亜美 joins 中田ヤスタカ(capsule)". Space Shower Network Ltd (in Japanese). Space Shower TV. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  19. ↑ Suzuki, Ami (2008). "Dolce booklet". Dolce (Liner notes). Ami Suzuki. Toyko, Japan: Avex Trax. p. 3. AVCD-23432/B.
  20. ↑ "New joint album 'Dolce' and join music clips have been revealed!". Avex Trax. 6 February 2008. Archived from the original on 2 April 2008.
  21. 1 2 "鈴木亜美 / Free Free" on YouTube
  22. ↑ "Footage from Ami Suzuki's new album published now on Yahoo! Music". RBB Today. 28 January 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  23. ↑ "鈴木亜美 a nation2007 「FREE FREE・Delightful」" on YouTube
  24. ↑ "Ami Suzuki – Alright! A-Nation Concert" on YouTube
  25. ↑ Goto (23 August 2009). "A-nation pictures and setlists + return of globe?". Arama They Didn't. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  26. ↑ "Ami Suzuki to perform on her Countdown Birthday Live "Happy 25th Anniversary" party". Avex Trax. 2008.
  27. ↑ ""Free Free" Launch Party". Tower Records. 26 August 2007.
  28. ↑ "Kyoto Summer Festival announcement". Avex Trax.
  29. ↑ "Free Free". Amiabba. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  30. ↑ Suzuki, Ami (2011). "Ami Selection booklet". Ami Selection (Liner notes). Ami Suzuki. Toyko, Japan: Avex Trax. AVCD-38380/B.
  31. ↑ Best Selection (Extended Play). Ami Suzuki. Avex Trax. November 19, 2014.
  32. ↑ "Ami Suzuki: Dolce". iTunes Store (Japan). 8 February 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  33. ↑ "Free Free / Super Music Maker Suzuki Ami joins Nakata Yasutaka". CD Japan. 22 August 2007. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
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