UTADA Hikaru looks like a wide-eyed Eskimo on the cover of her latest album This is the One. If you think this remark is harsh, well, be prepared for more.

You don’t need the IQ of a rocket scientist to see that I’m really disappointed with this effort. Yes, the album had a No.1 debut in Japan but, in my opinion, it sounds more like an experiment rather than something concrete to show off her unique style.

Her first single out of this album, Come Back to Me, is whiny and weak (rather like Rihanna’s Unfaithful). It starts out with a great piano riff but is ruined by feeble lyrics.

The album comes in a variety of styles and flavours – some good, some bad. The good ones include Automatic II. Though, again, the lyrics are kind of lame, the fast tempo will make you want to move it. Passable but of lesser quality are the Latin-influenced Me Muero and R&B-sounding Taking My Money Back.

Diversity is all good. Unfortunately, Utada tries too hard to find the one style that suits her best.

Utada has delivered something better than this before and I’d love to hear again the power and magic she brought to her old songs like Automatic. This is not the one for me.