Being afforded a certain level of notoriety due to their involvement in Serial Experiments Lain, having written and performed the opening song Duvet, bôa has developed a growing fan following in both Japan and the UK. The British band's rising success comes as no surprise to anyone that's heard their highly melodic and deeply moving sound, led by the powerful voice of front woman Jasmine Rodgers. Those willing to import their CDs have been treated to their terrific debut album, The Race of a Thousand Camels, and their follow up EP, Tall Snake, but a great many potential American fans have been limited to what Lain had to offer in the way of Duvet. With the release of their first domestic album looming on the horizon, this is about to change.

Pioneer, the North American distributor of Serial Experiments Lain, will be publishing bôa's first American effort with the release of Twilight, an album compiling most of their released material to date. Some of bôa's established fans may be put off by the decision to rely on old material for their domestic debut, but nonetheless, the album should serve as a great way to introduce new fans to the band, as well as offer fans that had been wary of the expense involved in importing a chance to pick up a comprehensive compilation of their previous material. The track list for Twilight, including the entirety of The Race of a Thousand Camels and selections from the Tall Snake EP, is as follows:

• Duvet
• Twilight
• Fool
• Rain
• Elephant
• Scoring
• Deeply
• One Day
• Welcome
• For Jasmine
• Anna Maria
• Duvet (acoustic version)
• Little Miss
• Drinking

The noted absence of Two Steps, as well as the DJ Wasei mix of Duvet, is made up for by the inclusion of the previously unpublished Drinking, arguably one of their best songs and a nice treat for long time bôa fans looking for something new - and not having been satisfied with the low quality sample that was posted on bôa's official site. During their appearance at Otakon last August, early 2001 was estimated for the release of this first domestic album, but the original January 23rd release date has since been pushed back to March 27th, the album being set to retail for $17.97.

To help promote Twilight, bôa will be performing live at a number of local LA clubs between April 2nd and 9th. More details and dates should be available soon. Promotional tours are planned to accompany all subsequent releases as well, the next album, featuring all new material, tentatively scheduled for an October 2001 release.

Can't wait till March 27th for your bôa fix? Listen to some samples and read about what makes their music great by way of a pair of review of their import albums courtesy of Sumire Kanzaki, a web goddess with a fine ear for good music. Her review of The Race of a Thousand Camels can be read here, while the Tall Snake EP review can be read here. Additionally, Sumi has whipped up a review of the Lain OST: Music by Nakaido "Chabo" Reichi, an album compiling the music to Lain composed and performed, as the title implies, by Nakaido "Chabo" Reichi. Enjoy and preorder Twilight now. Oh, and don't forget to buy it for all your friends too! I know I will be!