Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
THE JAPANESE HOUSE IS A PLACE WORTH EXPLORING
THOMPSON’S STEREO SESSIONS WELCOMES BYRON THE AQUARIUS
Fans of The 1975 may already be aware of her burgeoning talent but to the great unwashed The Japanese House seems like a new an exciting discovery. The project of singer-songwriter (at least in that she sings and writes songs) Amber Bain have been touring pretty incessantly with this year’s Brits success story and Matt Healy and George Daniel have lent a hand in some of the production of new album Good At Falling.
But The Japanese House is very much its own thing.
Bain is a master of cool processed pop, filled with intricately woven textures, stylised sounds and lyrics that seem detached yet pull at the heartstrings. It’s a trick used to fine effect so often by this new wave of female-led bands emerging from Britain over the last few years.
Marika Hackman, Bain’s ex-girlfriend, and her pals The Big Moon are cases in point.
Listen to We Talk All The Time, the third track off The Japanese House’s stunning debut. It’s a break-up song that seems to nail how relationships work and don’t – those early days of circling before the first flushes of romance, then the confusion and conflict as the love settles into a slow disintegration. “We don’t touch anymore…but that’s fine, cos I keep changing my mind,” Bain sings as the songs kicks into to a sort-of dreamy funk. “I can see a progression, and I guess it’s happening, a different direction.”
Is it about her split from Hackman? Probably – there at least two other songs that directly address their affair, Lilo and Marika Is Sleeping, and her ex even features in the video for the former. Whatever the inspiration the result is music of rare and devastating beauty. And it’s mature beyond Bain’s years – it’s hard to square the fact the Buckinghamshire artist is just 23.
On You Seemed So Happy she strips back the production and the result is dreamy, jangly pop that nods to The Sundays or even early Cardigans. The contrast feels like coming up for air out of the preceding wash of melancholy only to feel the dark undercurrent pulling you back in. “You seemed so happy to everybody you meet,” she sings. “These things don’t happen to anybody like you.”
The Japanese House stage name was inspired by a cottage in Cornwall, once owned by Kate Winslet, where Bain stayed on a family holiday. It was here, the story goes, that she began experimenting with her identity by pretending to be a boy for the entire week – with such conviction that another girl developed a crush on her. She used the name so she wouldn’t be defined (dismissed even) as a female singer songwriter when her music is so much more. But, curiously, Good At Falling is an album that could only have been written by a woman – it’s strong and confident, subtle and fragile and complex.
We look forward to seeing The Japanese House when they play later this year (watch this space) and in the meantime get the album… STEREO SESSIONS, the Saturday club at Thompsons, continue their series of star studded headliners tomorrow with Classic Music Company’s Byron The Aqaurius.
Hailing from Birmingham, Alabama, Byron The Aquarius launched his production career in 2007, collaborating with well-known Parisian producer Onra on an EP entitled “The Big Payback.”that collaboration led to numerous releases on independent labels like Rush Hour, Warp (with Flying Lotus), HHV, Circulations, Reebok Classics A Journey into Future, Real Soon, and Giant Step Records.
In 2010, Byron signed to a production deal with Denaun Porter from D12 (Eminem producer). It was at Denaun’s studio in Detroit that Byron realized he wanted to make his own music and bravely returned to Alabama to hone his craft through jazz studies and jazz composition programs in piano at Morehouse University and Jacksonville State University.
In 2015, Byron released a ten track solo album on BBE entitled “Planets of Love.” When he wasn’t working on his own music, he was playing keys in the studio with Kai Alce. Their creations got into the hands of Theo Parrish, who loved the sound of he sublime jazz-infected house and picked two tracks to release on his legendary Sound Signature label in 2016.
The resulting Highlife EP has been hailed as “stunning”, “intoxicating” and “essential.” Byron can now be found behind the turntables at clubs and festivals all over the world, notably notching up an acclaimed Boiler Room mix at last year Dekantel.
For his Belfast debut tomorrow night, Byron The Aquarius is joined by Hijaxx in the club and the Vertigo crew on the Thompsons Garage Terrace.
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