Zutto.../Last Minute/Walk

"Zutto.../Last Minute/Walk"
Single by Ayumi Hamasaki
from the album A One
Released	December 24, 2014
Format	Digital download CD single
Recorded	November 2014[1]
Genre	J-pop Pop rock
Length	28:27[2]
Label	Avex Trax
Writer(s)	Ayumi Hamasaki Kunio Tago Tetsuya Yukumi Tetsuya Komuro
Producer(s)	Max Matsuura
Ayumi Hamasaki singles chronology
"Terminal" (2014) "Zutto.../Last Minute/Walk" (2014)

"Zutto.../Last Minute/Walk" is the 53rd single of Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on December 24, 2014, by Avex Trax.

Background

In November 2014, Hamasaki announced through her official Facebook page that she had started recording new material for a "winter trilogy single", comprising three ballads composed by Kunio Tago, Tetsuya Yukumi and Tetsuya Komuro.^[1] This was the first time of Hamasaki's career that she shared in social media all the process of making the single, mentioning also how she had "writer's block" problems while creating the lyrics for the songs.^[3] "Zutto...", which translates to "Always...", is one of the few songs of Hamasaki that has a Japanese title, although written in romaji.

The single was released digitally on December 17, and physically on December 24, 2014. It in five different formats: CD, Limited Edition CD single (TeamAyu edition), and three music card singles.^[4][5]

Music videos

Initially "Zutto..." was the only song of the single for which a music video was recorded. The music video, inspired by feelings of "loneliness", and including scenes recorded in a studio with −10° Celsius (14° Fahrenheit), was published on YouTube on December 19, 2014.^[6][7]

After the release of the single, in February 2015 Hamasaki announced that she had decided to record a music video for "Last Minute", as it had become one of her favorite songs.^[8][9] The video was later included in the DVD of A One.

Chart performance

"Zutto.../Last Minute/Walk" debuted at number 5 on the Oricon charts, selling 28,446 copies on its first week. It ended up selling 35,550 copies, charting for 7 weeks. The single made Hamasaki the first solo artist in Japan's history —and third artist in general, after groups Morning Musume and SMAP— to have 50 singles within the Top 10 since the establishment of the charts in 1968.^[10]

Track listing

Regular edition

1. Zutto... (Original Mix)
2. Last Minute (Original Mix)
3. Walk (Original Mix)
4. Zutto... (Original Mix -Instrumental-)
5. Last Minute (Original Mix -Instrumental-)
6. Walk (Original Mix -Instrumental-)

TeamAyu version

1. Zutto... (Original Mix)
2. Last Minute (Original Mix)
3. Walk (Original Mix)
4. Winter Ballad Medley ("Days", "Carols", "No Way to Say", "Jewel", "You Were...", "Momentum" and "Powder Snow")
5. Zutto... (Original Mix -Instrumental-)
6. Last Minute (Original Mix -Instrumental-)
7. Walk (Original Mix -Instrumental-)

Music card

1. Zutto... (Original Mix)
2. Last Minute (Original Mix)
3. Walk (Original Mix)

References

1. https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=919519621399494&id=250061788345284
2. "Zutto.../Last minute/Walk". Yodobashi. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
3. https://www.facebook.com/ayu.official/photos/a.474920635859397.113111.250061788345284/920047461346710/
4. "浜崎あゆみ、冬バラード・シングル「Zutto... / Last minute / Walk」ジャケット公開". Barks (in Japanese). 6 December 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
5. "【リリース情報】クリスマス・イヴに贈るayuのバラード3部作、12月24日リリース！ NEW SINGLE「Zutto... / Last minute / Walk」". Ayumi Hamasaki official website. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
6. "浜崎あゆみ / Zutto...【Music Video（Short Ver.）】". Youtube. 19 December 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
7. "Ayumi Hamasaki's music video for "Zutto…" was shot in a -10°C studio. "It was more painful than it was cold…"". Barks English. 24 December 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
8. "浜崎あゆみTwitterでMV撮影を決める". Excite (in Japanese). 9 February 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
9. "浜崎あゆみ、TwitterでMV撮影計画を明かした「Last minute」が公開" (in Japanese). 26 March 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
10. "浜崎あゆみ、ソロ史上初のシングル50作TOP10入り". Oricon (in Japanese). 30 December 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2015.