Carrying on the essence of the song’s dream-like quality, and further instilled by Amber Bain’s ethereal voice is the visual-art performers, studio sets and misted lighting – all producing a surreal quality that will have you long scratching your head. You’ll be left wanting to fall deeper into The Japanese House’s dream-like-sequence, never to return to the boring mortal world. But then you’re woken as the clapperboard slaps its marker on the video – and Bain is guided/pushed into performing her music video. The lyrics cutting in; “And when I’m awake I can’t switch off/It isn’t the same but it is enough”. It’s a loop you can’t, and don’t want to escape from; with a straight-jacket being mimed “seamlessly” into the dance, suggesting what you can’t escape from is inside yourself – heart and mind.
Although as mentioned, did they really want to let go of the dream? Its upbeat and yet slow melody making it tempting to stay, while there’s no harm to be found in the music video (directed by Lucy Tcherniak), but only a sense of solace through a series of studio-lit scenarios.
Led through picturesque, but fake, scenery, Bain watches on as a couple go through the act of falling in love – sweet embraces, road trips, backgrounds of a moonlit beach– but the clincher has been there all along, none of its real, even if they want it to be. But as one of the dancers stretches out their hand there’s a suggestion of friendship – which is fitting for the song’s inspiration.
Amber Bain, whose stage name is The Japanese House wrote the song after dreaming about a childhood friend who had sadly passed away. The deeply personal and highly emotive words calling out in empathy to anyone who’s experienced a mix of beauty-with-sadness, whether it’s about a loved one, experiencing heartbreak or wanting to stay in a dream even though you know it’s just that.
The Japanese House so named after the style of a holiday home Bain stayed in at Cornwall – and not any mere holiday home but Kate Winslet’s – she initially rose to fame in a cloud of anonymity with her androgynous voice adding to the puzzle of who this artist was – however for Bain this was purely unintentional, having merely dislike their picture being taken (totally with her there). Bain’s music, whilst having a mysterious indie quality, is openly sincere; hiding nothing from her life, and with a natural poetry to it that in no way feels false. British born, Bain’s music has travelled much further afield and is fast becoming a house-hold name.
Other songs by The Japanese House we love:
- Dionne (feat. Justin Vernon) (2020 – Chewing Cotton Wool [EP])
- f a r a w a y (2019 – Good at Falling)
- Follow My Girl (2019 – Good at Falling)
- You Seemed so Happy (2019 – Good at Falling)
- Maybe You’re the Reason (2019 – Good at Falling)
Other artists you might like:
- EXES
- Novo Amor
- The 1975
- VÉRITÉ
