Faky are finally releasing an album. Their first album. Despite being a group for almost 10 years.

Y’all.

It took almost 10 years. But it’s finally happening. Faky are releasing an album.

Despite Faky being a group that’s been in the game since 2013, has already gone through 3 line-ups, and has released over 30 singles, only now in the devil’s year of 2022 are we getting an album.

A madness. But that’s Avex for you. Nobody knows what they are doing over there. It’s no wonder Namie left.

There are few details on Faky’s debut album at time of writing, other than it will be releasing on October 19th, and that it will be available in four editions. A regular edition, a limited edition with a disc which includes the live show, an introductory edition and a luxury edition. No idea what the introductory edition and luxury editions will entail. But the introductory edition will probably feature all 42 versions of “Candy”.

Given how many singles Faky have put out, the song selections for this album are going to be controversial. But I’m fully expecting everything from “Girls Gotta Give” to be featured on this album, because it’s the first Faky single which included the third line up which brought in Hina and Taki. It would be messy for Avex to do this, given that this would mean the album featuring all of one new song, but I can fully see Avex doing it. It’s the J-pop way.

At this point a Best album would make more sense than a studio album. But at least there’s actually gonna be some type of album. I guess.

It’s tough to get a sense on how well this album will do. Faky has a fanbase, for sure. They always have done. And they certainly have a large enough fanbase to be able to hold tours in actual venues, and not milk crates stacked outside of a Lawson in some random street in Nagoya. But how this will translate into sales / streams is difficult. Faky’s main point of exposure has all been online, which is becoming more of a trend now and a viable one as a result of the success of artists such as Kenshi Yonezu, Aimyon, Kaze Fujii and even Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, who all gained massive followings online. But Faky haven’t had that one moment where they were drawing attention and building interest which created buzz since their debut.

Having an act be active and releasing material for almost 10 years, but there being no album in that time is so unprecedented and weird.

This whole Faky album situation is a real sign that shit is an absolute mess at Avex when it comes to artist development and branding, two things which are hurting the likes of Avex and Japanese music veterans Ayumi Hamasaki and Kumi Koda. Avex dragging their feet with an album for Faky was always nonsensical to me, when there has been a gap in the Japanese market for a group with their look, vibe and range of sounds which wasn’t a K-pop group.

In other Faky related news, ex-Faky member Anna currently stars in the Apple TV+ drama Pachinko. I’ve not yet watched it, and know nothing about it except that it stars queen Youn Yuh-jung.

💿 Faky EP review: Unwrapped