Mere days after dropping one of the best albums of 2022, RAY have announced that they will be ending their current system and suspending activities.
【現体制終了・活動休止のお知らせ】
7/23 or 24予定の現体制ラストワンマンをもってRAYは活動休止期間に入る事をお知らせ致します。5/28からは月日が活動復帰、甲斐の復帰は調整中です。また並行して新メンバーオーディションを開催し、9〜10月に新体制お披露目予定です。詳細は画像を一読下さい。 pic.twitter.com/qhdXOHr7pm— RAY 5/25 2ndアルバムリリース (@_RAY_world) May 27, 2022
The last live of the current line-up will be in late July after which they plan to hold auditions and reboot, hopefully in September or October. The sudden announcement comes on the heals of news of the indefinite hiatus of Kai Marino and the reduction of RAY to their current status as a duo (a move known in the chika idol world as, “pulling a SAKA SAMA”).
It has not been decided if any of the current members of RAY will be a part of the new system to be unveiled in the Fall. The announcement says that the members will take the time during this suspension to “rest their minds and bodies” and determine whether or not they will continue on with the group.
This news is a bit earthshaking as RAY is basically the gold standard of chika idol projects, bringing together exceptionally talented idols with some of the best indie musical talent Japan has to offer. Not only are they responsible for one of the best albums of 2022 (regardless of genre), but some of the best tunes of all time.
In non-oshiloss news, brand new idol blog, DON’T TRUST iDOL just posted an interview with one of RAY’s most frequent composers, Azusa Suga of the exceptional shoegaze bands For Tracy Hyde and April Blue.
iNTERViEW WiTH AN iDOL iNDUSTRY iNSiDER: AZUSA SUGA TALKS iDOLS, SHOEGAZE AND WHY BANDS ARE “BORiNG” NOW https://t.co/JFhAaK9GEl
— メンヘラＢＡＴ (@menherabat) May 27, 2022
Pro otaku tip: Print out the article and then you can read it while using it to dry your tears.
