Released: June 30th 2023
3.5/5
We can all reflect on life’s ability to throw us curveballs, but few could capture these quite so accurately in song as Amber Bain, The Japanese House when dissecting her own circuitous stories, endings, beginnings and pulling on their threads. Old relationships “Spot Dog”, being in a throuple “Friends”, an emotional ode to her sausage dog “One for Sorrow, Two For Joni Jones”, or the complexities of gender and sexuality “Boyhood”, are just a few of the subjects tackled. However, the album never feels self-absorbed, there’s often an upbeat dance track or melody underpinning the revelatory moments. For such a personal release Bain found working alongside producer/engineer Chloe Kramer “life changing”, as someone with a shared understanding of marginalised genders and the resulting freedom is self-evident.
