The legacy of For Tracy Hyde is pretty set – they were one of the premiere Japanese indie bands, fusing shoegaze, jangle, indie, and J-pop influences into a template for a generation of bands to follow, and broke up in 2023 immediately after releasing their finest album and on the cusp (maybe) of breaking out internationally.

But their early days are also pretty interesting. The band began as the solo project of guitarist and songwriter Azusa Suga and their first album Satellite Lovers – a giddy, sun-soaked collection of songs released in 2013 featuring Suga on lead vocals – continues to exist online for those who seek it out, but isn’t to be found on any mainstream streaming services. It’s not disavowed but not advertised, either, even though it fits perfectly well alongside their main discography. Two other early EPs – 2012’s Juniper and Limelight and 2013’s All About Ivy – are also out there for those who care to look.

I’m going to use the song “First Regrets” as a comparative through line in this post because it was recorded and released in each of their eras (though not the only one). This version from Juniper And Limelight even rated a video featuring Suga wandering an analog-filtered countryside, Rickenbacker in hand.

Their next early chapter began in 2014 when Aika Imaizumi, who performs as Lovely Summer Chan, joined the band as for a couple of EP releases – In Fear Of Love and Born To Be Breathtaken. Her delicate female vocals added a new crucial dimension to FTH’s sound, spotlighting the tweeness that had always existed in their sound. Imaizumi left the band in 2015 after these releases to focus on her solo career, but the magic recipe for Suga’s songs had been discovered. Maybe call it a “Eureka!” moment?

The Lovely Summer chan version of “First Regrets” appears on In Fear Of Love, and while some of it is surely due to the new arrangements and shinier production, there’s no questioning the extra emotional dimension that Chan’s vocals bring to the song.

Eureka joined the band in 2015, initially as vocalist but eventually taking on guitar duties as well. It’s her voice that defines their albums from 2016’s Film Bleu through to their 2022 swan song, Hotel Insomnia. She’s able to replicate Chan’s tweeness and light, but also provide a power that her predecessor could not and while you can clearly hear where classic For Tracy Hyde came from in their early records, it’s hard to imagine them without her vocals. Post-FTH, she continues to perform in Ferri-Chrome.

The version of “First Regrets” on Film Bleu has similar arrangements to the one on Fear, but to my ears is just perfect. But I’m probably biased from having heard it dozens upon dozens of times.

This 2018 live version from Koenji High isn’t the best-sounding – lots of drums, not much guitar – but it exists and so should be celebrated.