[UPDATED] New Hikari (Ray of Hope MIX) EP releasing January 11, 2017, to contain four remixes of the Kingdom Hearts theme songs; Utada Hikaru to pe...

[Aquaberry 759]

Update 2: The "Simple and Clean (Ray of Hope MIX)" EP is now available for pre-order on the North American iTunes Store as well as the UK iTunes Store has a listed release date of January 11th, 2017.

 

Update 1: PUNPEE, the producer behind the Hikari and Simple and Clean -Ray of Hope MIX- versions, as well as the "P's CLUB MIX" remixes, will be present at Utada Hikaru's live-streamed event "Sanjudai wa Hodohodo" tomorrow. The event has been organized to celebrate Utada's return to music and to show her appreciation for her fans, and will include live studio performances. Fans will have the opportunity to ask questions in real-time and have them answered by Utada herself during the livestream.

 

The event is scheduled to run between 9-9-30 pm JST. For more information on the event and how to stream it, visit the event page.

 

The original article follows.

 

An EP featuring remixes of the Kingdom Hearts series Japanese and English theme songs by Utada Hikaru - "Hikari" and "Simple and Clean"- are up forpre-order on iTunes for release on January 11, 2017, for 750 yen. The track listing includes the -Ray of Hope MIX- versions of the songs, which have been featured in the recent trailers for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. These tracks are also the Japanese and English opening themes for Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-. The album also includes a new remix for both "Hikari" and "Simple and Clean", called "P's CLUB MIX."

 

The remixes in this EP have been produced by PUNPEE, a sound engineer producing sounds for numerous artists including RHYMESTER.

 

The cover of the EP will be the same as the one drawn by Tetsuya Nomura in December 2014 in commemoration of Utada's 15th anniversary since her debut.

 

The Kingdom Hearts official Japanese Twitter account has tweeted some comments about the EP. We will update with translations soon.

 

The track listing and durations are as follows:

光 (Ray Of Hope MIX) - EP

 

1. 光 (Ray Of Hope MIX) [5.33]

2. Simple And Clean (Ray Of Hope MIX) [5.33]

3. 光 (P’s CLUB MIX) [4.02]

4. Simple And Clean (P’s CLUB MIX) [4.02]

 

Will you be purchasing this new EP? Do you think that the "P's CLUB MIX" versions of the theme songs will be the ending tracks to Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-? Let us know in the comments!

 

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[Dustin Lübbers 933]

maybe they will finally release the english versiob to

I mean you can still dream...

[TheKingdomkid 1,194]

if it's available on the NA iTunes then I will for sure buy all four of them

[Aquaberry 759]

maybe they will finally release the english versiob to

I mean you can still dream...

 

The album includes the english versions as well

[The Transcendent Key 12,109]

Thanks for showing us this, Aquaberry!

 

This is going to be awesome! Utada's music is beautiful, and it'll be nice hearing Simple And Clean and Hikari in a new light! Ray Of Hope already sounds great, so I can't wait to see how Hikari sounds!

[Hero of Light XIV 2,381]

Now if only they would bring them to iTunes NA... -3-"

[blue490246 43]

I'm surprised they didn't make this exclusive to the soundtrack, assuming we will get one for any new songs they might use in BBS fragmentary passage and Back Cover. But then again, they never released the KH soundtracks with the English theme songs, always just the Japanese versions, so I guess a digital release does help to distribute easier.

 

Interested in hearing the full versions of the Ray of Hope Mixes (as the KH videos are only half of the length mentioned in the post) and the P's CLUB MIX. I wonder if they're also gonna show a preview of the P's CLUB MIX on the live stream event since PUNPEE will be there.

[Hero of Light XIV 2,381]

*See's it's on NA iTunes* YAAAAAY! Aaaaaaaand pre-ordered! There Japan, all you have to do is gimme, and my money is yours. Easy as that.