AKINA Look Toward The FUTURE with Latest Release!

FUTURE Digital Jacket Cover

AKINA, member of the girl group FAKY, has released a new single “FUTURE”. She is a Half American and half Japanese singer-songwriter who stands out in the J-POP world because she has cultivated a unique musical sense that touches various cultures due to her experience moving around the world ever since her childhood. Her singing voice, which is both delicate and powerful was highly praised and her cover of "Amazing Grace" was also used as a special song for the movie "A Morning of Farewell" starring Sayuri Yoshinaga. As a newcomer, she has achieved an exceptional achievement.

AKINA is attracting attention in the alternative scene as a singer-songwriter while working globally as FAKY at the same time and today the song "FUTURE" produced by Kai Takahashi, who is a member of LUCKY TAPES and has worked on iri and Taichi Mukai has been released.

This work is AKINA's first all-Japanese lyrics, and her sweet singing voice and the chill sound created by Kai Takahashi match perfectly that makes the listeners feel more positive.

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Comment from AKINA:

「FUTURE means to me self-reflection and freedom. With all the time spent at home the past couple of years, it’s caused me to feel like I’ve lost purpose at times. But those dark times are necessary for a change and I think this song shows that it’s okay to struggle as long as you try to find your way back again!.」 - Akina

Comment from Kai Takahashi:

「This is an ambitious all Japanese lyric song that I made for Akina who was born in California. I wrote it in the midst of the early days of Corona just a year ago and her husky and powerful singing voice matched the positive lyrics. The moment I heard her singing voice I felt that the scale of this song just got bigger. I think it will be difficult for her to balance her group and solo activities but I am looking forward to the success of both AKINA as a member of FAKY and as a solo artist!」

 - Kai Takahashi

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Also, on 6th October, following kiki vivi lily and PEARL CENTER's MATTON / inui, she was selected to be featured in the new song of the two-member band The Burning Deadwoods by a track maker from Tokyo. And on 15th October, On the 15th, the single "Stupid, Careless, Dumb" which she wrote and composed by herself made a big hit on Spotify's major playlist.

Furthermore, along with this release, it was revealed that a live stream will be held on Twitch on 28th October from 10 AM ET / 11 PM JST with the major music culture media "Rolling Stone" that has been published in the United States for more than 50 years. Many up-and-coming singer-songwriters from Europe and the United States, such as “girl in red” and “mxmtoon”, have appeared live on "Rolling Stone on Twitch” and AKINA is the first Japanese female artist to be featured on it which is an achievement. With her global recognition that has been growing lately, hopefully her talent can continue to receive more attention in the future.

AKINA of FAKY Reflects on Past Love with Latest Single!

“Stupid, Careless, Dumb” Digital Jacket Cover

AKINA, a member of all-girl group FAKY, released her new single “Stupid, Careless, Dumb” on October 15 across all digital music streaming platforms. The lyrics to “Stupid, Careless, Dumb” are based on AKINA’s own past experience of drowning in love. The track was produced by TOSHIKI HAYASHI(%C), the backing DJ for duo chelmico, who has also worked with artists such as Kai Kubota, iri and Awesome City Club. This is a mellow, chill must-listen tune that will seep into your dreams.

AKINA stands out in the world of J-pop, thanks to her mixed American and Japanese heritage and her upbringing that was spent in various countries and cultures, where she developed a unique sense of music. She made her solo debut toward the end of last year with the Yaffle-produced track “Touch”, which was added to the influential Spotify playlists “New Music Friday”, “Girl On Fire” and “Dance Pop: Japan”. In addition, she has been widely praised for the strength and delicacy of her singing voice, while her cover of “Amazing Grace” was used in the movie A Morning of Farewell starring revered veteran actress Sayuri Yoshinaga – just two of AKINA’s exceptional achievements as a debut artist.

Then, on October 6, AKINA collaborated on a song with Tokyo-based duo The Burning Deadwoods, following their highly regarded releases with kiki vivi lily and PEARL CENTER members MATTON and inui. AKINA’s exceptional musical sense has taken her from global activity with FAKY to her budding career as a singer-songwriter, and now to the attention of Japan’s indie music scene.

Comment from AKINA

“‘Stupid, Careless, Dumb’ is about looking back on a past relationship and regretting how decisions were made. Everyone has a love that they wish they weren’t too immature for at the time so I hope you can relate to this one!!” — Akina

With producer TOSHIKI HAYASHI(%C) having traversed the spectrum from high-quality J-pop to lo-fi hip-hop and AKINA’s unique multicultural approach to music, the chemistry is ripe for some amazing results. Check out “Stupid, Careless, Dumb” to hear for yourself on all streaming platforms here!

FAKY Kicks Off "atmos pink x Crocs Summer Festival '' Online Live Event!

Popular girl group FAKY was the 1st to perform on "atmos pink × Crocs Summer Festival" online live event on 2nd August held by Atmos Pink, a sneaker select shop for women developed by Crocs Japan. Crocs is a casual footwear brand that develops a rich lineup that suits every lifestyle, this event is a limited-time pop-up event held from July 31st (Sat) to August 9th (Mon).

In the performances, the members first introduced the original Crocs made using the Jibbitz ™ charm where people can express their personality according to their lifestyle using Crocs then continues to perform songs from the “Girls Power” dance medley (GIRLS GOTTA LIVE ~ ANTIDOTE ~ NEW AGE) to the middle ballad "Take my hand" which was selected as the theme song of Hulu's original drama "A Devil and Her Love Song" was performed beautifully which shows the extraordinary ability and sense of the five members that causes the online audience to be excited and shower them with comments such as “They’re so amazing that my hands tremble!”, “I took more than 100 screenshots”, and “I want Crocs”.

From now on, artists such as Atarashii Gakko!, ELLE TERESA, Yurufuwa Gang, and CHAMELEON LIME WHOOPIEPIE will also perform. atmos Pink will broadcast live content from his flagship Harajuku store that you can enjoy from your home TV or smartphone. So don’t forget to mark your schedule and be ready to tune in live.

「atmos pink × Crocs Summer Festival」 Information

Live Event schedule：31st July 2021 ~ 9th August 2021

Online Live Performance Artists & Schedule：

・2 August 21:00 JST　”FAKY”

・4 August 21:00 JST　”Yurufuwa Gang”

・6 August 21:00 JST　”ELLE TERESA”

・8 August 21:00 JST   “CHAMELEON LIME WHOOPIEPIE” & “Atarashii Gakko!”

FAKY to Appear at First Ever Online Edition of HYPER JAPAN, Britain’s Top Fest for Japanese pop culture!

Five-member girl group FAKY have been confirmed to perform at HYPER JAPAN, Britain’s largest Japanese pop-culture event, which will take place online for the first time in the event’s history this summer. The members of FAKY include a variety of nationalities: Akina is half Japanese and American, Taki has roots in the Philippines and France, while Lil’ Fang, Mikako and Hina are all Japanese.

FAKY found success from early in their career: their Candy EP ranked at No.3 in the iTunes general album chart when it was released in 2016, behind Ariana Grande and Radiohead. They have attracted attention at home and overseas as part of a “new wave of J-pop”, and featured in the Top 10 of the Spotify Viral Top 50 in Japan and the United States.

Before the spread of the ongoing pandemic, FAKY performed shows overseas, after being invited to appear at events in Brazil, Spain and Canada.

For their appearance at this summer’s HYPER JAPAN online festival – titled HYPER Show! with FAKY – fans from all over the world will be able to interact with one another over Zoom. Never-before-seen video footage from FAKY’s January 2021 headline concert will be shown, along with a Q&A session with the members of FAKY. The event will begin at 10:00 BST on July 10.

Event details

Title: HYPER Show! with FAKY

Date: 10:00 BST on July 10, 2021

Venue: Zoom

Ticket price: £10

Purchase ticket: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/faky-tickets-160039427235　

FAKY Takes Fans Hands with Latest Release!

“Take My Hand” Jacket Cover

FAKY has released their latest single “Take My Hand” as the theme song for Akuma to Love Song, which is Hulu Japan’s new live-action drama series based on the popular manga of the same name.  

“I have been listening to FAKY’s songs frequently for a few years. Especially, the song ‘Who We Are’ is a powerful song for me. When I prepared the live-action drama ‘A Devil and Her Love Song,’ I had already decided in my mind that I would offer FAKY for the theme song. That was because this drama’s theme completely matches FAKY, who sings with ‘the passion that never afraid of standing by oneself.’ We had a chance to listen to ‘Take My Hand’ at the first meeting and everyone from the director to the staff in that room felt like, ‘This is it!’ and agreed to use this song. The director loved this song and immediately shared it with the Camara staff and main clues. As a result, the visual of ‘A Devil and Her Love Song’ is very influenced by the mood of this song. We’d like you to enjoy the matching of the drama and the music.” - Tetsuya Ono, the Producer of Akuma to Love Song 

FAKY’s latest single, “Take My Hand,” is a cheerful song that gives you the courage to take a step forward and reflects the main heroine, played by Nana Asakawa, characteristics. The lyrics were written by FAKY’s leader, Lil’ Fang, who also wrote the group’s previous single, “HappyEverAfter,” which has been released on April 26th. 

“I have been a fan of the original comic of ‘A Devil and Her Love Song.’  I got an impression from each character who has strugglings but they eventually found their identities and the places where they belong. So I put the words ‘hold hands’ to cheer them up into the lyrics of ‘Take My Hand’. We particularly focused on mastering the song adding the live strings to make it epic so that we could express the sense of the scall that its music has. Also, we recorded the verse part individually one sentence each as it goes like relaying the voice baton to express the concept of this song. I want you to check on that. ‘Take My Hand’ is a sing-along friendly song for both boys and girls so that’ll be great if you could sing together like the characters at Tozuka Minami High School students.”

- Lil’ Fang, Leader of FAKY

Since the start of the year, FAKY have been making many headlines including being featured on, ET Canada, NYLON, an interview with Kevan Kenney (MTV and Radio.com), and Billboard Japan to name a few. FAKY has seen a consistent rise in their streams this year. The music video for their recent single, “99,” which was selected as the OST from popular Japanese drama Rika-Reverse, along with the music video for “The Light” hit over a million views shortly after they were released. This was followed by their music video for “little more” also crossing the million view mark and “half-moon” getting over 3 million views. The FAKY members and their team have no plans of slowing down and are planning to be releasing more new content for their fans throughout the rest of 2021. 

Be sure to check out the music video for “Take My Hand” below, along with the streaming link for the track here!