Femm-Isation

Femm-Isation is the debut studio album by J-Pop duo FEMM. Performed in the English language, Femm-Isation is primarily an electronic dance album with numerous elements of pop ballad, disco, and eurodance. It did not top any Japanese charts, but the songs "Kill The DJ" and "Fxxk Boyz Get Money" achieved praise for the music videos and lyrical message.

Background
FEMM had released their first extended play Astroboy through digital stores on April 2, 2014. Due to the positive reaction it got, Avex hired several producers and songwriters to create songs for the group's debut studio album. Producers such as Dan Book, Alexei Misoul, Leah Haywood, Daniel James, Kevin Ross, Andreas Carlsson, and Dreamlab were hired. FEMM begun recording the album at Avex Studios and Prime Sound Studios in Japan with Hideaki Jinbu, and the album's material was finalized and mixed by Tom Coyne at Sterling Studios in New York City, New York.

Songs
"Wannabe", the first single in the album, was released April 16, 2014. The second single, "Kiss the Rain", was released April 30, 2014."White Noise", the third single, was released May 7, 2014. "We Flood the Night" was released as the fourth single on May 14, 2014. "Kill the DJ" was released May 28, 2014 and was the first song on the album to achieve viral fame. "Fxxk Boyz Get Money" was released July 30, 2014 and also achieved viral fame. The band member Emily Kaiho said FBGM (a nickname she gave the track) was her favorite single from the album. "Dead Wrong" was released August 27, 2014. "Unbreakable" was released September 17, 2014 and was the duo's first ballad. The band member Hiro Todo said that this ballad was her favorite single from the album.

Concept
FEMM's persona is that of an agency trying to "end the suffering of mannequins worldwide". Emily plays the role of a FEMM agent named Honey-B and also portrays Honey-B's mannequin RiRi. Hiro plays FEMM agent W-Trouble and W-Trouble's mannequin LuLa. The album is supposed to be songs sung by the mannequins to inform humans how dolls are treated, which is why most of the album is a EDM album. "Unbreakable" is supposed to represent the feelings of a FEMM agent rather than a mannequin.

Reception
Femm-Isation received positive reviews from most music critics. Andy Malt from Complete Music Update was positive towards the tracks; he stated "Thankfully, the musical side makes more sense than the duo's persona. Over the last seven months they’ve released fourteen globally-minded pop tracks onto YouTube, all of which make up their debut album, Femm-Isation, which will be released internationally on iTunes tomorrow. Tracks like 'Fuck Boyz Get Money' (a satire of The Notorious B.I.G. line, “fuck bitches, get money”) and my personal favorite, 'Wannabe' (not a Spice Girls cover)." Greg Hignight from J-Generation.com was very positive towards the songs on the album, and stated "My pick for the J-Pop album of 2014 is Femm-Isation, a celebration of the artificial aspiring for something more genuine, and in the process, delivering some the most exciting and original music to come out of the Japanese pop scene in years." Despite not reviewing the album, Molly Osbery from Vice.com was praised the producers and songwriters from their material for being hidden pioneers in order to popularize the group, as she felt producers now were more "the front men". Despite not reviewing the album, Corynn Smith from MTV Iggy was impressed by their English language skills.

Concerts and tours
FEMM made their debut concert performance at Tokyo's Baamm at Shinkiba. In mid-July 2014, FEMM performed at Tokyo in Tulsa, an anime convention in Oklahoma, which was their first performance in North America. FEMM's second major performance was at Tokyo's newly hosted Twerk 'Em All; this was the host party for FEMM's then-new single "Fxxk Boyz Get Money", along previous material. FEMM were part of a one-night only show for the Japanese leg tour of Dutch recording artist and songwriter Eva Simons, and FEMM performed all the album tracks for their concert the following day; this gig was hosted at Hatsudai Tamai Hospital. FEMM performed alongside electronic musicians Afrojack, Alesso, Fedde Le Grand, Kaskade, and Martin Garrix amongst others at the annual Ultra Music Festival in Tokyo; this was FEMM's first musical performance at a live festival tour. FEMM performed at the Versace after party in Tokyo, and performed on several other concert gigs until December 2014.

In August 2015, the duo returned to the United States to perform at Rage, a gay bar and dance club in West Hollywood, California. 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. The group's final performance promoting material from Femm-Isation was for the 2015 YouTube FanFest Japan, where YouTube personalities and artists gathered together for a live streaming event.