In fact, they even put these feelings into the lyrics of one of their new personal favourite songs, “Hanagatami,” from their debut album Girlhood Memories. “We’re saying goodbye to our past and moving on as Phantom Siita, singing about our devotion to move forward as a group,” says Hisui, speaking to RANGE from 17 time zones over with use of a translator. “Especially the last chorus, there’s a line that says ‘Let’s start walking together’ and during the performance, we hold each other’s hands.”

“The audition was a very competitive camp, but once the five of us were chosen, because everybody had such talent, it could have been any of them,” Mona adds. “It makes sense that these five individuals were chosen. We balance out very well, we influence each other and at this point, we can’t think of any other way but these five.”

Phantom Siita’s look – and in many cases, their sound – evokes nostalgia, based not only on some of Japan’s timeless horror classics, but also a bygone era of idol groups that comes from a time before social media, when stars still felt larger-than-life. The group draws reference to the Japanese Showa era, named after an Emperor who reigned from 1926 until the late eighties and saw many notable idol groups emerge in the latter two decades. “You felt like the idols were close, but not so close,” Miu says.

With their music boasting ghostly synths, the catchiest of pop melodies, high-tempo switchups and complex instrumental flourishes, and vocals that range from raps to almost operatic, drama-laden belts conveying the overall sense of peril communicated by the possessed-schoolgirl vibe they bring to the table, the group is modernizing some of the sounds and looks of their nation’s renowned past.

“It’s not just about being scary, it’s about the nostalgia, a little bit of scariness within old things and things that are beautiful – and what’s inside of you.”

“It’s not just about being scary, it’s about the nostalgia, a little bit of scariness within old things and things that are beautiful – and what’s inside of you,” Mona says. Hisui continues by referencing a Japanese master of all things twisted, and his story about a girl who turns out to be a demon. “There’s a manga called Tomie by Junji Ito, and that’s my inspiration. It’s about a young girl with black hair and it’s all been reflected in our wardrobe, hairstyle, music and everything.”

Even the group’s name has layers upon layers. Feeling as though your typical modern-day J-pop star represents something of a beautiful butterfly, Phantom Siita’s name is derived from a combination of the scientific names of both a deadly butterfly, Parantica sita, and a moth, Epicopeia hainesii. Even further, they took the “haine” part of the moth’s name and made it the name of their fan army, because “haine” means “hatred” in French.

“There’s definitely a butterfly element in me, but the butterfly you mentioned – they’re actually poisonous, even though they’re beautiful!” Rinka says, when asked if she feels like parts of her represent both the group’s titular butterfly and moth. “I think when we cover some of the old idol songs from the past, it does bring out the very cute butterfly element.”

Bolstering the group’s popularity even further is their connection to Ado, a mysterious figure that they credit with expert mentorship. Only 22 herself, Ado quickly gained widespread popularity (she’s even linked up with Imagine Dragons for a remix) after posting covers on the Internet and using the Vocaloid phenomenon.

Perhaps the most notable Vocaloid idol is Hatsune Miku, a blue-haired cartoon character who has even performed at Coachella as a hologram. Make no mistake, Ado is a real person – but in using avatars, nobody knows what she looks like. Some have even speculated that she is one of the five members of Phantom Siita. Excitement for Phantom Siita’s new output is up, since it’s been reported that, through their connection to Ado, they’ve been working with some of the most famous Vocaloid producers – the ones who write a catchy song and give it to a figure like Hatsune Miku to unleash on an adoring public.

“It’s a computer program where they’ve taken the real voices of artists and converted it into a software. If you program it, they’ll sing any of the songs for you,” says Miu. “Before, you had to be able to sing to become an artist and deliver your music. Now even if you can’t sing, if you can compose a song that’s great, you can have Vocaloid sing it for you and deliver it to the world – and that’s a beautiful [part of] Japanese culture.”

Moka continues by giving thanks for their relationship with Ado. “She gives us advice during the recording session mainly, not just technical, but emotional expression is what she gives advice to us on,” she says. “With that, we deepen our understanding of the songs and we have a lot to learn from her. We appreciate her so much.”

The group are touching down in Canada for the first time on Feb. 10, and due to their subversive nature, it’s only appropriate that they’re playing at Rebel in Toronto. With only seven full songs released, the group have been known to intersperse a couple covers into their live shows – something that they know they can cater to local tastes.

“We just had our first headlining show in Japan at the famous Budokan, but we’re brushing up our performance even further from there,” Moka says. “On the world tour, we have a theme of ‘80s Showa era idols. We know that city pop from the ‘70s and ‘80s has been very popular around the world right now, so it should be a very enjoyable show for you guys.”