Dream (Ai album)

Dream is the twelfth studio album by Japanese-American singer-songwriter Ai, released on February 23, 2022, by EMI Records. Ai collaborated with various Japanese and American producers, including longtime collaborator Uta and Bernard "Harv" Harvey, the latter produced her 2021 extended play, It's All Me, Vol. 2.

Dream
A grey-scale close-up shot of Ai's face with her bangs covering her left eye.
Studio album by
Ai
ReleasedFebruary 23, 2022 (2022-02-23)
Recorded2019–2021
Studio
Genre
Length33:27
Language
Label
Producer
Ai chronology
It's All Me, Vol. 2
(2021)		 Dream
(2022)		 Respect All
(2023)
Singles from Dream
  1. "The Moment"
    Released: June 28, 2021
  2. "In the Middle"
    Released: August 13, 2021
  3. "Aldebaran"
    Released: November 1, 2021

Three singles have been released from the album. The first single, "The Moment" featured Japanese rapper Yellow Bucks and was released in June 2021. "In the Middle", a collaboration with Daichi Miura was released in August 2021. The third single was "Aldebaran", which served as the theme song for the Japanese television drama Come Come Everybody. "Aldebaran" was a modest hit in Japan, debuting and peaking at number 37 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 and at number 6 on the Oricon Digital Singles Chart. In 2022, "Aldebaran" won the Best Drama Song award at the 111th Television Drama Academy Awards.[1]

Background and promotion
The logo of the album

Following the release of the extended play It's All Me, Vol. 2, Ai hinted on social media she was working on new music. In June 2021, she released "The Moment" with Japanese rapper Yellow Bucks.[2] In early August, Ai announced she was working on a new single.[3] The single was revealed to be a song with Daichi Miura, titled "In the Middle".[4] In September, Ai announced her next single, titled "Aldebaran". The song would serve as theme song for the NHK drama, Come Come Everbody. She revealed the song was written by Naotarō Moriyama and featured arrangements by Neko Saito.[5][6][7] The song was sent to radio in October, with the radio edit being uploaded to Ai's official YouTube channel to promote the song.[8] Following the release of the full song in November, "Aldebaran" has received critical acclaim.[9] In December, Ai announced her twelfth studio album would be released in February 2022. She stated that "Aldebaran" and "In the Middle" would be included on the album.[10] Ai also announced the Dream Tour, which took take place in Japan from May to December 2022.[11] In February, a special site was launched for the album by Universal Japan, revealing the full track listing of the album.[12]

Music and lyrics

Musically, Dream is a pop and R&B album with gospel and hip hop influences.[13] Three songs, "First Time", "Lessons" and "We Have a Dream" were recorded entirely in English while the rest of the songs feature bilingual lyrics. The lyrics for "First Time" are based on when Ai first started her career and how she was able to find success through many trials.[13] "Welcome Rain" features a delicate melody about loved ones, similar to "Aldebaran".

Commercial performance

Dream debuted at number 12 on the Oricon Daily Albums chart for February 22, 2022.[14] It rose to number 7 on February 23.[15] On the weekly Oricon charts, Dream debuted and peaked at number 12, charting for 18 consecutive weeks.[16] The album sold more copies than her previous studio album, Wa to Yo, and her extended plays, It's All Me Vol, 1 and It's All Me, Vol. 2.[17]

Track listing
Dream track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Aldebaran" (アルデバラン)Naotarō Moriyama
4:26
2."In the Middle" (featuring Daichi Miura)
  • Uemura
  • Miura
  • Uta
  • Uta
  • Uemura
  • Miura
4:27
3."The Moment" (featuring Yellow Bucks)
  • Uemura
  • Kazu Sakaguchi
  • DJ Ryow
  • Space Dust Club
  • Uemura
  • DJ Ryow
  • Space Dust Club
3:22
4."Welcome Rain"Naoaki YamataNao'ymt4:31
5."First Time" (featuring Riehata)
  • Uemura
  • Felisha "Fury" King
  • Fallon King
Bernard "Harv" Harvey3:01
6."Lessons"Kes KrossDerek Anderson2:33
7."Be with You"
  • Uemura
  • Julian Le
  • Le
  • Uemura
3:45
8."Dear Papa" (パパへ "Papa e")
  • Uemura
  • C3prod
  • C3prod
  • Uemura
2:50
9."We Have a Dream"
  • Uemura
  • Nelson Babin-Coy
  • Kim
  • Uta
  • Uta
  • Uemura
4:29
Dream – limited edition DVD / Blu-ray bonus live performances from the It's All Me Tour
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Opening"  
2."I Wanna Know"Uemura 
3."Voice"Uemura 
4."Not So Different"
 
5."Hope"Uemura 
6."Gift"Uemura 
7."My Friend"Uemura 
8."Believe"Uemura 
9."Music Is My Life"Uemura 
10."Life"
  • Uemura
  • Stephanie Stokes Fountain
 
11."Dear Mama"Uemura 
12."Kira Kira"Uemura 
13."Minna ga Minna ga Eiyū"Makoto Shinohara 
14."I Have Nothing"
 
15."Story"Uemura 
16."The Moment"
  • Uemura
  • Sakaguchi
  • DJ Ryow
  • Space Dust Club
 
17."Not So Different" (remix featuring Awich)
  • Uemura
  • West
  • Akiko Urasaki
  • Van den Ende
  • Storch
 
18."Aldebaran" (encore)Moriyama 
19."Happiness" (encore)Uemura 
20."Ai Birthday Special Behind the Scenes"  
Dream – limited edition DVD / Blu-ray bonus music videos
No.TitleDirector(s)Length
1."Aldebaran" (music video)  
2."In the Middle" (music video)Yoshiharu Seri 
3."The Moment" (music video)Yue 
4."Not So Different" (remix music video)  

Notes

  • Tracks 1–20 of the limited edition bonus DVD / Blu-ray are noted as "Ai 20th Anniversary Tour It's All Me -Ai Birthday Special- @ Tokyo International Forum 2021.11.1"[18]

Personnel

Credits adapted from album's liner notes and Tidal.[19][20]

Musicians
  • Ai Carina Uemura – lead vocals, songwriting, production
  • Uta – production, songwriting
  • Julian Le – production, songwriting
  • Naotarō Moriyama – songwriting
  • Neko Saito – production, arranging
  • Daichi Miura – featured artist, songwriting, production
  • Yellow Bucks – featured artist, songwriting
  • Nao'ymt – songwriting, production
  • Felisha "Fury" King – songwriting
  • Fallon King – songwriting
  • Kes Kross – songwriting
  • Derek Anderson – production
  • Kim – songwriting
  • Nelson Babin-Coy – songwriting
  • Midorin – drums
  • Tomohiko Ohkanda – bass
  • Fumio Yanagisawa – guitar
  • Satoshi Onoue – guitar
  • Hideaki "Lanbsy" Sakai – latin percussion
  • Tomoyuki Asakawa – harp
  • Great Eida – concertmaster, strings
  • Jo Kuwata – violin
  • Nagisa Kiriyama – violin
  • Haruko Yano – violin
  • Yukinori Murata – violin
  • Akane Irie – violin
  • Ayumu Koshikawa – violin
  • Akiko Maruyama – violin
  • Yui Kaneko – violin
  • Masahiro Miyake – violin
  • Yuji Yamada – viola
  • Mayu Takashima – viola
  • Ayano Kasahara – cello
  • Yoshihiko Maeda – cello
  • Space Dust Club – production, songwriting
  • DJ Ryow – production, songwriting
  • C3prod – production, songwriting
  • Bernard "Harv" Harvey – production

Technical
  • Mizuo Miura – vocal recording, vocal production
  • Keisuke Narita – assistant vocal recording, assistant vocal production
  • Taji Okuda – vocal recording, vocal production, mixing
  • Keisuke Fujimaki – vocal recording, vocal production
  • Shohei Ishikawa – vocal recording, vocal production
  • Masahiro Abo – vocal recording, vocal production
  • D.O.I – mixing
  • Mark Parfitt – mixing
  • Randy Merrill – mastering

Visuals and imagery
  • Tatsuki Ikezawa – art director
  • Shoji Uchihada – photographer
  • Kanako Sato – retouching
  • Shinji Konishi – hair, makeup
  • Kumiko Iijima – stylist
  • Machi Kagawa – designing
  • Hirotaka Maeda – shooting coordination
  • Erika Hiyama – shooting coordination
  • Akiko Kawabata – AW production coordination

Charts

Release history
Release history and formats for Dream
Region Date Format(s) Version Label Ref.
Various February 23, 2022
Standard
[10]
Japan CD
[26]
 Limited [27]
 [28]

References
  1. "ドラマソング賞 受賞結果 1位：アルデバラン、AI | 第111回 - ザテレビジョンドラマアカデミー賞" [Drama Song Award Winner 1st Place: Aldebaran, AI | The 111 Television Drama Academy Awards]. WEBザテレビジョン (in Japanese). Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  2. "AIが￥ellow Bucksとコラボした新曲配信、「CDTVライブ！ライブ！」で披露（コメントあり / 動画あり）". Music Natalie (in Japanese). Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  3. "ＡＩ＆三浦大知 初コラボ曲 旧知の友人/デイリースポーツ online". デイリースポーツ online (in Japanese). Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  4. "ＡＩが長年の友人・三浦大知と初コラボ 新曲13日から配信 - 芸能 : 日刊スポーツ". nikkansports.com (in Japanese). Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  5. "ＡＩ「アルデバラン」次期朝ドラ「カムカムエヴリバディ」主題歌 - ドラマ : 日刊スポーツ". nikkansports.com (in Japanese). Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  6. TVガイド (2021-09-28). "AIの新曲「アルデバラン」が「カムカムエヴリバディ」の主題歌に決定！ 作詞・作曲は森山直太朗 ｜ TVガイド". TVガイド (in Japanese). Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  7. "『カムカムエヴリバディ』主題歌がAI「アルデバラン」に決定 ヒロイン3人からコメントも（リアルサウンド）". Yahoo!ニュース (in Japanese). Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  8. "AI、新曲「アルデバラン」オフィシャルオーディオ公開". BARKS (in Japanese). 4 October 2021. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  9. "カムカムエヴリバディ：次期朝ドラ主題歌はAI「アルデバラン」 作詞作曲は森山直太朗 明日「うたコン」で初披露". MANTANWEB（まんたんウェブ） (in Japanese). 27 September 2021. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  10. "AIがオリジナルフルアルバム「DREAM」リリース、5月から全国ツアー開催". Music Natalie (in Japanese). Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  11. "AIとまやりんがコラボ、"大切な人"を描く「アルデバラン」動画公開". BARKS (in Japanese). 7 January 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  12. "AI、ニューアルバム『DREAM』クロスフェード映像＆スペシャルサイト公開 本人の生歌唱などの封入特典も". Real Sound｜リアルサウンド (in Japanese). 3 February 2022. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  13. "【コラム】AI、アルバム『DREAM』に込めた願いとメッセージとは？". BARKS (in Japanese). 23 February 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  14. "2022/02/22付 オリコンデイリー アルバムランキング 11～20位". ORICON NEWS. Archived from the original on February 23, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  15. "2022/02/23付 オリコンデイリー アルバムランキング". ORICON NEWS. Archived from the original on February 24, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  16. "DREAM | AI". ORICON NEWS. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  17. "AIのアルバム売上ランキング 2ページ目". ORICON NEWS. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  18. "AI / DREAM [CD+DVD] [限定] - CDJournal". artist.cdjournal.com (in Japanese). Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  19. Dream (CD). Ai. EMI Records/Universal/Def Jam Recordings. 2022. UPCH-20614.
  20. "AI / Dream". Tidal. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  21. "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2022-03-07" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  22. "Oricon Top 50 Combined Albums: 2022-03-07" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  23. "Oricon Top 50 Digital Albums: 2022-03-07" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  24. "Billboard Japan Hot Albums – Week of March 7, 2022". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved November 5, 2022.
  25. "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2022-02" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on March 9, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  26. "DREAM | AI". Oricon News. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  27. "DREAM(限定盤/DVD付) | AI". Oricon News. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  28. "DREAM(限定盤/Blu-ray Disc付) | AI". Oricon News. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
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