By the end of the 2000s, the sleek, contemplative R&B behind the Japanese-language output of Hikaru Utada stood apart from the brazen diva pop or guitar-slinging sing-alongs then trending in J-pop. And so the singer’s dip into contemporary styles colors their 2009 English-language album, This Is the One, with its own defining personality. Opening track “Come Back to Me” immediately points to the sounds reflected in popular American R&B, its elegant hip-hop production placing Utada as the peer of singers like Ne-Yo and Jordin Sparks. But as they fit naturally into the similarly wistful, piano-led “Apple and Cinnamon,” the flashy dance-pop tracks lead them out of their shell. Buzzing with the flamboyant synths of crunk, “Dirty Desire” unravels their sensuous side, while the strutting funk of “Poppin’” makes way for Utada to boast an assertive girl-power hook. Before Utada indulges in more showy club-pop tracks, they open up about their heartbreak in a series of slow jams. Brash synths and a flickering drum beat build on a rather downcast production on “Taking My Money Back,” syncing with the blue mood behind the song’s relationship talk centering on a neglectful partner. The tearful ballad of “This One (Crying Like a Child)” gets even more vulnerable as Utada tries to relearn how to love after a breakup. They ask the DJ to turn up the music on the Atlanta-bass-inspired closer “On and On,” finally sounding free and losing themselves in the music. Not only do the new dance-pop sounds set the songs apart on This Is the One, they also offer Utada a way to escape into a more carefree state of mind.