Especia was a Japanese idol group formed in June 2012. Originally starting off as a 10-member Horie local idol group, Especia went through various lineup changes, eventually making their major debut from VERSIONMUSIC in 2014 with five members, releasing the mini-album "Primera". In order to achieve greater success, they moved to Tokyo from their hometown of Horie, Osaka in 2016, which resulted in the graduation of three members. The Japanese-Brazilian Mia Nascimento joined as a new third member with the release of "Mirage". From this point, Especia moved to a more band-like formation - removing the choreography from their music, performing with a live band, and releasing only English-language songs (a technique often used in Japanese music to allow the vocals to be heard as another instrument.) The new Especia formation proved to be unprofitable, and audience attendance at their live shows fell from figures in the hundreds to double digits. Because of this, the decision was made, but not announced, to disband the group in October of 2016. The Tokyo-based group performed city pop / 80s disco-inspired songs primarily produced by Schtein&Longer of SCRAMBLES, who formed the band Hi-Fi City with fellow Especia producers in 2016. "CARTA" marked the first Especia album to be produced by Hi-Fi City, combining Schtein&Longer's trademark brass arrangements with the soft electronics of PellyColo and LUVRAW. Schtein&Longer and the group's manager Shimizu are also strongly influenced by internet music movements such as vaporwave and trap: Especia regularly released sprawling vaporwave edits of their music on rarer releases aimed at core fans. They disbanded in March 2017.