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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.
Three singles were 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 JapanHot 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.
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. In early August, Ai announced she was working on a new single. The single was revealed to be a song with Daichi Miura, titled "In the Middle". 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. The song was sent to radio in October, with the radio edit being uploaded to Ai's official YouTube channel to promote the song. Following the release of the full song in November, "Aldebaran" has received critical acclaim. 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. Ai also announced the Dream Tour, which took take place in Japan from May to December 2022. In February, a special site was launched for the album by Universal Japan, revealing the full track listing of the album.
Music and lyrics
Musically, Dream is a pop and R&B album with gospel and hip hop influences. 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. "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. It rose to number 7 on February 23. On the weekly Oricon charts, Dream debuted and peaked at number 12, charting for 18 consecutive weeks. 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.
Dream – limited edition DVD / Blu-ray bonus music videos
No.
Title
Director(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"
