Fayray
Xed51's note: This article, along with the other Topdrunkee J-music based articles, was originally posted on http://soulsaga.sitesled.com/

Occupation: Singer, Songwriter
Style: Jazz, Ballad, J-pop
Started: 1998
Status: Active
DOB : 04/18/1976
Similar Artists :

Sounds likes : Her tunes originally sounded like videogame music. 80's pop.
Post Jpop: Elisa Fiorillo
Record Labels: Antinos records , avex tracks, R&C Japan

Career Bio:
Fayray's English wiki had quite an extensive bio about Fayray's career. It was impressive stuff, because it was the most accurate English language bio of Fayray that I've ever seen. I would've linked to it, and called it a day. Unfortunately some nut erased the entire bio, & wrote some generic info in its place.
I've always been a Fayray fan so I'll say this much about her as a Jpop artist.
It seems to be a past that Fayray has long forgotten, or wishes to forget. Sadly the pop music she made was actually good in my opinion. However I wouldn't want my life to be wasted as some record exec puppet for life either.
 

In conclusion:
Fayray has always been one of my favorite J musicians. Although I haven't been keeping track with Fayray ever since she ditched the pop scene. (Her 80's pop music kicked ass!)

What I find striking is how Fayray started off pop, & eventually drifted into her own territory when she started writing her own songs for the coupling tracks of "Same, Night, Same, Face". Fayray has never really achieved any oricon hits on par with her original jpop jingles that she made back in 1998. (She'd release a new song like once every two months during 98, & 99.)

At the least, Fayray has artistic integrity now that she makes music that suits her vocal talents more. Fayray still remains a fairly popular artist in Japan. She just doesn't have the fame that she used to have when she was pop. In a way Fayray seems to be the exact opposite of Tsubaki.

They both started out somewhat famous from different sides of the spectrum.. Fay as pop, and Tsubaki as an underground urban chorus girl. They both changed their music direction early on in their careers. (Though I suspect that it was actually Tsubaki's label who wanted her to change her style.)
Tsubaki drifted into obscurity when she went pop. Whereas Fayray still holds quite a loyal stable of fans due to the darker, more mature tone of her music.

Trivia:
*Did you know that Fayray is also an actress? She typically plays "Black widow" like roles that aren't too different from the way she has portrayed herself ever since she left the pop scene.

Fayray Oricon Rankings Best selling singles: I'm not sure if I'll ever do her rankings. She has plenty of hits. The only one I'll list is her lowest selling single. (Which still sold far more substantially than most of the other artists covered in these archives.) Spotlight "The Universe " Fayray Highest chart ranking：81 Number of times appeared: 2 Release: 2005,11,23 R&C Japan     ___________ Note: If a single or Album is not listed. That generally implies that it did not rank into the oricon at all. Indie/Underground albums are usually not included in oricon rankings. ___________   It should be noted that any releases that fail to make the Oricon top 100 are considered flops. Songs that make it to the top 50 are considered a moderate success, but not nearly close enough to be considered a hit. Artists usually strive to break into the top 20.

Discography: Albums Live album : LiveAlbum (1999/12/18) 1st: Shina Junpei (2001/07/18) 2nd: discover (2002/05/27) 3rd: Sweet fragrance of night (2003/06/25) 4rth: Rhodes to Freedom (Best hits album) (2004/10/27) Singles Fayray discography under construction DVD Rhodes to Freedom (2004/11/03)

Let the art of Soul soothe your Mind & Body.

Official site: Fayray.net
Sample: English, italo dark disco

Media:
Images, music samples & videos are displayed for educational and decorative purposes only under the "fair use" clause.

Music/ Gallery/ Video/ Lyrics/

Dr. Soul Saga's opinion:

Fayray has always been one of my favorite Japanese singers ever since I first saw her debut video in 1998. Fayray possibly has the sexiest voice I've ever heard out of a female Japanese singer. Yup, even sexier than Tsubaki's voice. The "Harlem" Tsubaki may have sounded like a dime of a woman who you would feel forcibly compelled to ravage from head to toe.
Fayray takes it a step further as she sounds like the type of dame who would be ravishing YOU instead, and making off with your wallet after the deed is done.

PROS: A phenomenal voice. Hah hah, I tend to say that a lot huh? That's merely because the artists I'm covering so far do have exquisite voices. What I like about her is how dark her music sounds when compared to other J-female musicians. Fayray's English is so fluent that you'd swear it was a Caucasian woman singing on the mic.

Another plus is that Fayray actually writes her own music. She never did look right wearing all those flamboyant get ups that antinos records routinely dressed her up in when she was pop.
More power to her for ditching them once she had the chance.
(Even though I'm a HARDCORE fan of her video gamey pop music.)

CONS:She doesn't really have any cons. The only one I can think of is that her music style is a bit too mature for a country who's audience tend to prefer mass marketed pop acts with their own jingle & dance of the week. Which ironically was exactly what Fayray used to be like when she first debuted in the music biz.

Why is she such a failure?:
She's not. Fayray just isn't as internationally known as the likes of Utada Hikaru, Ayu, etc.

What could've been done?: I'm cutting these questions off, because I have nothing to contribute. Fayray is already a success with a stable following, and she still makes the top 50 oricon charts on a regular basis.