Japanese EDM unit REOL released an official notice on their website announcing that they will hold a final live performance in October, after which they will disband and pursue their own paths as individuals.

The trio consist of Reol (vocalist and lyrics), Giga P (musician) and Okiku (video director and producer). They each left their own comments on the decision to split.

Reol commented how the trio spent a lot of time discussing ways they could continue before coming to a decision. “Without the three of us, the unit REOL can’t exist,” she said. “I will use all the experience I gathered from REOL and grow as an individual musician just as much as the others. REOL will disband this October, but I hope that the work the three of us made together will continue to be loved for a long time.”

Giga P cited that the creative differences of the members led to the decision to disband, but the relationship between the trio has not changed at all. “When I considered the possibility of even greater creative differences arising between us if we continued REOL like this, I agreed with the decision to disband the unit,” said Giga P. “After disbanding, we each hope to continue to improve our individual skills and develop our respective fields of work.”

Okiku also highlighted creative differences as well as the difficulty in improving her own skills. However, she also mentioned a fear of being a burden to her fellow members. “I suggested my withdrawal from REOL to them,” said Okiku. “When I did that, Reol and Giga told me that REOL couldn’t exist without me, so we decided that now would be the best time to disband. I will work hard so that I can appear before you all again soon as a video creator who can proudly reflect what she worked on as a member of REOL.”

Before forming REOL each member had solo careers, with Reol and Giga P having collaborated previously. The trio officially came together as REOL in March 2016, signed to Toy’s Factory. They released the album Sigma (∑) in October 2016, which reached number six on the Oricon Album Chart. July saw REOL visit the UK to perform at the Hyper Japan festival. Their final performance as a trio, Last Live, will take place on 20 October at Zepp Namba, Osaka, and 22 October at Toyosu Pit, Tokyo.

Translation by @differentoceans

Originally published on MyM Buzz on 1 August 2017.