THE JAPANESE HOUSE - FACE LIKE THUNDER

I'm a little bit late to the party when it comes to The Japanese House aka Amber Bain. The 21 year old first started to make waves last year with her first two EPs 'Pools To Bathe In' and 'Clean'. Now after increasing success, touring across the UK on her own and supporting The 1975, Bain has released her first EP of the year titled 'Swim Against The Tide'. Although she is still a very new artist, her music style is remarkably distinct, creating songs that live up to the kind of image you think of when you think of a Japanese House. When you think of a 'Japanese House' you think of a clean, calming, soothing backdrop to relax in, this is exactly what Bain directly tries to emulate with her music. Bain's music is incredibly atmospheric  at times cinematic, and always shows a perfect blend of dream pop and electronica. 

One thing that always shines through with Bain's music is her confidence to experiment with different sounds and create something unique and original. Bain's desire for experimentation however does not only stop wth her music. As a child she has always been one to play with conventions and gender norms, on a holiday in Cornwall age 8, she spent the whole week pretending to be a boy. Her desire to play with gender stereotypes is carried over into her music, most importantly with the name of the musical project. Bain chose the alias 'The Japanese House' as an attempt to depersonalise and take away the gender and identity of the person behind the music, leaving only the joy of the music itself. As she has previously said: 'A lot of female musicians, if they use their own name, get described as female artist blah blah blah. By taking away a person’s identity, all you have to focus on is the music, which is kind of cool'. Throughout her music we see not only her fondness to experiment with music but how her want to experiment with gender, Bain's voice is often intentionally very androgynous. At times it is difficult to distinguish whether what you are hearing is coming from a male or female singer. Bain herself considers this a skill, accomplished in being able to hit both high and very low notes. 

Categorically, her music can be labeled as a blend of electronic loveliness and alternative dream-pop, yet the feelings and blissful emotions her music stirs up spreads further than the genre of the music itself. Her newest EP 'Swim Against The Tide' was released a few days ago, and one of my favourite tracks from the EP is 'Face Like Thunder' which shows a new dimension and diversity to her music, the song being more upbeat than many of her previous records. The song features Bain's now signature Imogen Heap-like vocoder harmonies that weave their way into your mind and soul, while soothing forward-thinking pop/electronic beats form the foundation of the track. The song is a full bodied punch of emotions and melody, '80s guitar rhythms and ambient synth sounds buzz underneath as Bain's vocals scintillate on top. Within the song, her vocoder harmonies are perfectly balanced, Bain's natural and raw vocals shine through without sounding too overly synthetic. With the perfect fusion of`nostaligc guitar riffs and smooth vocoder harmonies, 'Face Like Thunder' presents an upbeat track adding to Bain's consistently solid and growing body of work. There is no doubt this track and her newest EP are bound to scoop up and attract a whole host of new listeners, giving her the attention she deserves as a profoundly engaging and mesmerising young artist.