"Hello New Me" (stylized as "Hello new me") is a song by Japanese musician

Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, model, spokesperson, and entrepreneur. By 2002, Hamasaki had earned the nickname "Empress of J-pop" due to her popularity in Japan and throughout Asia. Due to her success and relevanc ...

. It was released on May 14, 2014 as the second digital single from her fifteenth studio album, ''

Colours Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associa ...

'' (2014). The song was used as the theme song for the

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...

drama '' Zoku - Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi''. Although the song did not enter the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track download sales. In J ...

, it did peak at number 29 on the ''Billboard'' Japan Hot 100 Chart. It was certified gold by the

Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include pr ...

for over 100,000 downloads.

Background

Hamasaki had previously recorded the gold-certified song " How Beautiful You Are" as the theme song for the first season of the drama ''

Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi ''Second to Last Love'', or , is a Japanese television drama series, starring Kyōko Koizumi and Kiichi Nakai. The series aired Thursdays at 22:00 - 22:54, on Fuji Television from January 12, to March 22, 2012. A second season entitled was broa ...

'' in 2012. For the second season, called ''Zoku - Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi'', the singer was approached to provide a new theme song. The song was revealed to be titled "Hello New Me", a slow but cheery ballad.

Writing and production

The song's lyrics were written by Hamasaki herself, with music by Kunio Tago. Long time collaborator Yuta Nakano served as the song's arranger.

Release

The song was released digitally on May 14, 2014. It was also included on her 15th studio album ''

'', released on July 2, 2014.

Promotion

Since "Hello New Me" was used as the opening theme of '' Zoku - Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi'', it was shown on TV once a week from April 17 to June 26, 2014 The song was also promoted – alongside ''

'' – with an advertising truck driving around the city of

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. Furthermore, it was performed during Hamasaki's '' Premium Showcase: Feel the Love'' tour, which lasted from May 30 to July 6, 2014.

Track listing

Digital download

Charts

Certifications

Personnel

Credits adapted from

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

. *Arrangement, Programming – Yuta Nakano *Guitar – Tomoki Ihira *Lyrics – Ayumi Hamasaki *Mixing – David Reitzas *Music – Kunio Tago *Producer –

Max Matsuura , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese record producer and businessman. He is the founder of Avex Group, one of the largest music labels. He is known mainly for discovering and developing new artists into stars (most notably Ayumi Hamas ...

*Strings – Yuko Kajitani Strings

References

{{authority control Ayumi Hamasaki songs Japanese songs Avex Group singles 2014 songs Songs written by Ayumi Hamasaki 2010s ballads +