THE JAPANESE HOUSE
RETURNS WITH NEW SINGLE
‘BOYHOOD’
The Japanese House returns with new single ‘BOYHOOD’, out now via Dirty Hit and debuted as BBC Radio 1’s ‘Hottest Record’. The Japanese House is the acclaimed project of Amber Bain, who has released music under the pseudonym since 2015, and shared her debut album Good At Falling in 2019. On new single ‘BOYHOOD’, Bain’s voice floats over electronic beats and gentle guitar plucks; an ode to the complexities of gender and sexuality, ‘BOYHOOD’ explores how trauma becomes an inescapable part of a person.
‘BOYHOOD’s accompanying visualiser sees Bain watching a projection of herself from a bed, as one of a pair horseback riding through lush green fields. Of the visual and song she explains:
“When my best friend Katie and I were young and in love, we dreamed of riding off into the distance on her horse Bam Bam, away from all the problems that came from being gay and in love back then. This song talks about how sometimes, however hard you try, you can’t help but be a product of the things that happened to you or held you back earlier on in life. But also, and more importantly, it’s about hope for overcoming those things. And look at us now. Not riding away, but towards… something.
This horse was very lovely to us, but I think deep down Bam Bam was the horse we were riding all along, and wherever I’m recklessly galloping off to in my life, Katie will be riding bareback behind me like a lunatic, arms around me, like we’d always planned.
Rip Bam Bam xxx”
‘BOYHOOD’ is the first taste of new music from The Japanese House in 2023, her sound and style characteristically wide open with her vulnerabilities and innermost feelings stitched into a tapestry of gorgeous, elevated pop music. Since her emergence in 2015, The Japanese House has received industry-wise acclaim from The Guardian (“feels like a refreshing splash of cold water on tear-stained cheeks”), Sunday Times Culture (“stunning”) Pitchfork, i-D, VICE, NME, GQ, Interview Magazine, BBC Radio 1 and more.