Album:

In The End It Always Does

ARTIST: The Japanese House 

RELEASE DATE: Friday, 30th June 2023

GENRE: Indie Pop

LABEL: Dirty Hit

‘In The End It Always Does’ is Amber Bain’s second studio album since their debut ‘Good At Falling’ released in 2019. After a four-year hiatus, Bain has come back with a bang and changed her sound while still keeping her authenticity and familiarity. George Daniel and Chloe Kraemer jointly produced the album alongside Bain to create this masterpiece. The general cohesiveness and storytelling throughout the album is genius, with a clear story of a battle Bain has faced over the years with her own identity and a relationship with another person. The album is being released just in time for the summer and the production reaches that summer feel that we all strive for. It’s a mix of melancholic electronic happiness partnered with genuine and emotional lyrics; Bain perfects the mix, and it all works perfectly together. Considering the success of the debut album, with a rating of 7.5 by pitchfork.com, ‘In The End It Always Does’ is an album to look out for this summer and one I’m definitely excited to sing along to at Finsbury Park Festival this July. 

A standout for me is ‘Touching Yourself’ which can simply be classed as a sapphic banger. It has a catchy chorus followed by an amazing bridge filled with the frustrations of long-distance relationships; typical of a f/f relationship. ‘Morning Pages’ is another remarkable song on the album, though, one I think will be considered an underdog amongst the rest. The melody is soft on the ears, like a lullaby, and the harmonies are just gorgeous. Learning to truly listen to all aspects of a song is when you will appreciate the beauty in its entirety, and Bain definitely doesn’t make it difficult to appreciate the consistent heavenliness in her work.

One Cryptic Postcard…

DH01698 was the only indicator of whom this postcard could be from. Dirty Hit; an independent record label home to some of the most creative and innovative musicians of the 21st century. An unnamed postcard with two women dressed in denim, arms wrapped around one another, sitting on top of a horse, was all I could see. On the flip side, was what I thought was a poem. Later, I found out it was the lyrics for the upcoming single called ‘Boyhood’ by ‘The Japanese House’. A piece of card I will continue to display on my wall, too pretty of a cover to hide away. ‘Boyhood’ has homages to her debut album within the lyrics,    “I want to meet somebody new” which explicitly links to the album's intro “went to meet her”.

The lyrics are genuine and show Bain’s unapologetic love for an unnamed person, this song was the first single to be released  by Bain which makes the referencing even more effective and it definitely worked in getting me excited for the album (like, so excited).

The tour is quickly approaching so be sure you get tickets if you want an out-of-body experience of pure bliss – I speak from personal experience from seeing Bain perform in 2019 – trust me, it is beyond worth it!