Colours by 浜崎あゆみ

Colours (stylized as CoLOURS) is the fifteenth studio album by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on July 2, 2014, in Japan by Avex Trax, worldwide by Avex Entertainment Inc., and on July 18 in Taiwan by Avex Taiwan. The songs on the album were entirely written by Hamasaki, while production was led by long-time collaborator Max Matsuura; it also included a variety of Western producers such as Armin van Buuren, members from RedOne Productions De Paris and Rush, Darkchild, and Fedde Le Grand, among others. This became Hamasaki's first studio album to have not been fully produced by Matsuura, and her first album to incorporate a large amount of English language. Musically, Colours is an electronic dance music album. Upon its release, Colours received favorable reviews from music critics. Critics commended the material and how Hamasaki included more producers outside of Matsuura, alongside praising the production. Commercially, it was not as successful as her predecessor records in Japan, reaching number five on the Oricon Albums Chart. It is her lowest charting album in Japan, sold 53,406 units by the end of the year, and featured a similar run in other charts in other Asian territories. Each track from the album was released as a single, with "Feel the Love"/"Merry-Go-Round" and "Terminal" entering the Oricon Singles Chart. To promote the album, Hamasaki commenced two concert tours in Japan; the first was her annual Countdown Live concert tour for 2013 leading onto 2014, and her 2014 Premium Showcase: Feel the Love tour that toured in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nayoga city. The tours were generally a success, and spawned two live video releases. Hamasaki was then part of the 2014 A-Nation concert tour. Hamasaki further promoted the album with several business and endorsement endeavours, including theme songs that were adapted from the album and other musical releases.