Bad Mode
Bad Mode (Japanese: BADモード, Hepburn: Baddo Mōdo) is the eighth Japanese-language studio album (eleventh overall) by Japanese-American singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada. It is Utada's first bilingual album release, with songs recorded in both Japanese and English. The album was released on the Sony Music Japan sublabel Epic Records Japan digitally on January 19, 2022, and was released physically on February 23. It marked their first album release in four years since Hatsukoi (2018).
Bad Mode received critical acclaim from music critics, with The Japan Times calling it a career highlight. It was named one of the best albums of the year by various music publications including Pitchfork and Slant Magazine, while "Somewhere Near Marseilles" was ranked within the top 10 on both publication's lists of Best Songs of 2022. Commercially, the album received a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) within a month of its release with over 100,000 copies sold.