FEMM (duo)

FEMM (short for Far East Mention Mannequins) is an electronic pop duo from Tokyo, Japan. Their major debut EP album PoW!/LCS will be released on February 24, 2016.^[1]

Career

2013: Formation and early work

In October 2013, the group launched a YouTube channel and uploaded a teaser. The video showed RiRi and LuLa walking around the streets of Japan, talking about their quest of rescuing mannequins.^[2] This teaser was used to launch FEMM's website, which uses interactive elements to communicate with their fanbase.^[3]

2014: International recognition and Femm-Isation

In February 2014, FEMM introduced two music videos, "UFO" and "Astroboy" on YouTube. Despite the initial lack of popularity at the time, FEMM included both songs in their first EP "Astroboy" on April 2, 2014.^[4] "UFO" is a cover of a song originally recorded in 1977 by Japanese pop duo Pink Lady. "Astroboy" was the first original song by the group.^[5] The videos were directed by creative unit IKIOI, who had previously worked with other Japanese artists.^[5] They later released their first single "Wannabe" on April 12, 2014.^[6] The group started to progress their attention to international production teams, and "Wannabe" was handled by Dreamlab. Their second single "Kiss the Rain" followed one week later, and was co-produced by Swedish producer Andreas Carlsson. In mid-May the third single of the group, "We Flood the Night", was released.^[7][8] FEMM started to achieve more recognition with the release of the music video of their fifth single, "Kill the DJ". The "slick, high-concept" music video was directed by IKIOI, and continued their trend of incorporating song lyrics inside the music video. Riri recognized "Kill the DJ" as one of her favorite music videos to portray RiRi and Lula.^[9]

In June 2014, FEMM uploaded their sixth single "Fxxk Boyz Get Money" onto YouTube, and released it a month later on iTunes.^[10] The video achieved positive commentary from music critics, and became a minor viral video. Some critics differentiated FEMM from other internationally known J-Pop acts, because the group is "practically unknown" in Japan.^[11] Popular figures including Perez Hilton and YouTube personalities started to praise the songs as a "life anthem".^[12] Due to its popularity, the song was featured on the TWERK EM' ALL compilation in July and gained more international fans from all over the world.^[13] As of November 2015, the song has surpassed a million views on YouTube and is FEMM's most viewed video.^[14][15] In mid-July 2014, the duo performed at Tokyo in Tulsa,^[16][17] an anime convention in Oklahama, which was their first performance in the U.S.^[18]

After "Fxxk Boyz Get Money" and "Kill the DJ", FEMM started to work with more producers from North America and Europe.^[9] FEMM collaborated with American producer and songwriter Dan Book and Alexei Misoul on "Party All Night", the seventh single of their first album.^[19] Their eighth single "Dead Wrong" was produced by New Zealand-born Australian musician Leah Haywood, Daniel James, and Kevin Ross. FEMM's next releases "Unbreakable" and "Whiplash" were the final singles to be featured on their first studio album. Femm-Isation, the first full-length album of the group, was released digitally in October 2014.^[1] The instrumental version of the album was released on December 24. On the same day, FEMM uploaded a video titled "Dance is not a Crime". This video was a pronouncement against the Businesses Affecting Public Morals Regulation Law, which states that dancing at public venues in Japan is illegal after midnight.^[20][21]

2015: Promotions & Major Debut EP

FEMM generally promoted with performances at small clubs or other events in Japan. They have been also known to walk through areas like in Harajuku and give out flyers or business cards. In August 2015, the duo returned to the U.S. to perform at RAGE, a gay bar and dance club in West Hollywood, California.^[22] In the same weekend, they were guests at J-Pop Summit in San Francisco along with other Japanese acts such as Eir Aoi, JAM Project, Gacharic Spin and more.^[23]

On November 18, 2015, FEMM was a featured guest for the 2015 YouTube FanFest Japan, where YouTube personalities and artists gathered together for a live streaming event.^[24][25] The duo introduced their new song, "PoW!", for their comeback to the music scene.^[26] FEMM also released a collaboration music video with FAKY with a Japanese cover of Sak Noel's "No Boyfriend" on the producer's channel on November 27, 2015.^[27]

In December 2015, it was announced that duo will make a major debut on February 24, 2016 by releasing a physical EP album that includes 2 new songs, PoW!, L.C.S., new remixes, remixes from previous singles, and the Femm-Isation album. There will also be a version of the EP that includes a blank CD for those who have already purchased Femm-Isation and allow them to the burn songs onto the CD.^[28][29]

Artistry

Musical style

The group cites synthpop, EDM, eurodance, rap, and Otaku culture as their major influences.^[30][31][32] FEMM has been compared to Americanized music, including Hip-Hop and club culture.^[32] The group has explored themes of girl power, feminism, and freedom of speech in their music. The FEMM singles "Fxxk Boyz Get Money" and "Girls Night Out" have lyrics which discuss female empowerment, and not relying on male labor or assistance.^[33] For their single "Unbreakable", the entire production relied on actual orchestral instruments, and was considered a "versatile" move by both fans and critics. According to W-Trouble, the song relies on human feelings rather than of a mannequin."^[34] W-Trouble commented "["Unbreakable”] is probably the song that expresses those feelings the most. The other songs are pretty rigid so I think they're closer to the image of mannequins."^[34]

For their first independent EP "Astroboy", both members did not yet have any professional experience in singing. The duo stated that the first time recording and appearing in a music video as their agents was challenging.^[33] FEMM expressed that they would be honored to collaborate with any producers and songwriters who understand their message.^[33] Jacque from Arcadey.net commented that "[FEMM]'s music mostly consists of regurgitated American EDM, dance-pop, and hip-hop, all of which is just as enjoyable as it is generic. I'm guessing it's supposed to be some kind of meta commentary on mainstream music and manufactured pop stars or something [...]"^[35]

Molly Osberg from Vice noted that FEMM combined Japanese fashion and music together. She commented "At least, that's how I imagine we get acts like FEMM, the mesmerizing J-pop electro duo with a backstory more inventive than anything on the SyFy channel right now."^[36] Osberg praised the producers and songwriters for being hidden pioneers in order to popularize the group, as she felt producers now were more "the frontmen".^[36] Corynn Smith from MTV Iggy was impressed by their English language skills and commented "The pair’s overwhelmingly English discography has something for everyone with electronic taste, whether you’re feeling like a romantic trance trip a la [We Flood the Night], craving a techno remix of '70s J-pop hit [UFO], or in a twerk-tastic, rubber-maid-outfit-clad [Fxxk Boyz Get Money] kinda mood."^[31] MTV has listed FEMM as one of their "Artists to Watch".^[37]

Image

FEMM are portrayed as plastic dolls, known as mannequins.^[30] Both RiRi and LuLa are "identically-different", although FEMMs are categorized by their attributes, such as: military, pilot, medical, maid, spies, RiRi and LuLa are exclusive-attribute and exclusive-rank FEMM without any of the attributes and that is indicated in their serial numbers 000000.^[33] Many of the latex outfits are made by Shoichiro Matsuoka of GM Atelier.^[38] According to FEMM, their tagline "Do Dolls Have Feelings? Do Their Songs Move People?" represents their virtual goal is to free all mannequins from human oppression.^[30] FEMM recognizes their fanbase as "agents" of the group. RiRi and LuLa's agents are Honey-B and W-Trouble respectively.^[30] The agents are known as the "voices" of RiRi and LuLa, as the mannequins are portrayed with the inability to talk or vocally communicate. Honey-B stated, "For the musical nuances, it's listening that's important: the key is to match the sound and flow. If the nuance reveals a kind of attitude, it's partly due to the songwriting and partly due to [Honey-B].^[32] "

FEMM tends to stay in character and move with robot-like actions while street marketing their group in Japan. They are sometimes carried on and off stage by staff members to underline mannequin characteristics. Also, FEMM's choreography in music videos and performances involve dance styles like voguing and tutting. Their choreographer, Hidali, has also helped the FEMM on most of their music videos.^[5]

Members

• RiRi (also known as MS-000000)
  • Agent: Honey-B
• LuLa (also known as SW-000000)
  • Agent: W-Trouble

Discography

Albums

EPs

Remixes

Singles

• "Wannabe" (2014)
• "Kiss the Rain" (2014)
• "White Noise" (2014)
• "We Flood the Night" (2014)
• "Kill the DJ" (2014)
• "Fxxk Boyz Get Money" (2014)
• "Party All Night" (2014)
• "Dead Wrong" (2014)
• "Unbreakable" (2014)
• "Whiplash" (2014)

Featured tracks

• Sak Noel, Kuba & Neitan ft. FEMM & FAKY - No Boyfriend (Japanese Version) (2015)^[40]

References

External links

• Official website
• Official YouTube
• Official Twitter
• Official Instagram
• Official Facebook