Live Review: The Japanese House 'Teeth'

'Teeth', by 19 y/o Londoner Amber Bain,aka THE JAPANESE HOUSE, is an insular, melancholic sound with equal shades of beauty and malaise. The kind of stuff The Postal Service broke boundaries with over a decade ago, albeit more downtempo. It’s a light, charming and intelligently produced song, which impresses on first listen and gets better on repeat.

The Japanese House’s airy, uplifting production is tight throughout, with a slow, syncopated beat which is effective here but seems to be everywhere at the moment. Guitar hooks, synth warbles and drum machinations are thrown at you like children’s toys. Her warm androgynous vocals blanket you from the bleak production and draw you further into her mind. Avoiding the potential for dull melodrama, the song instead becomes heartfelt and affirming.

The Japanese House has produced 'Teeth', along with the rest of her EP, Pools To Bathe In, with the help of two of her Dirty Hit label-mates from The 1975 George Daniel and Matthew Healy. Their influence can be heard across the EP, in the guitars, synths and vocal layering, and despite my feelings for their main band this perhaps adds something which might have been missing.

'Teeth' is at once small and expansive, internal and all-encompassing. It’s a simple pleasure of a song which calms and excites in equal measure.

Words by Ben Cook

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THE JAPANESE HOUSE ‘POOLS TO BATHE IN’