Amber Bain Creates the Perfect Album with the Release of Good At Falling
By: Hailey Hale
In today’s world it’s hard to find music in which every aspect of a song is genuinely engaging. It’s even harder to find a band who creates entire albums that are not only enticing sonically but also meaningful lyrically. However, The Japanese House’s front woman, Amber Bain has done all of those things and more. Her music took the world by storm in 2015 with the release of her sophomore EP Clean, and now almost four years later Bain still holds the industry within her powerful grip. Nobody can get enough of the beautifully soft sounds that The Japanese House is creating, so when the band announced that they would be releasing its debut album March 1st, it sent the indie music world into a frenzy. Good At Falling is the band's first full length album, and it’s everything you love from The Japanese House with a new twist that is utterly irresistible and irrevocably amazing.
“Every single song forces you to feel something”
Some bands might find that the process of creating an album is intimidating and back away from the challenge, but when listening to Good At Falling you can tell that Bain had stared her fears in the face and went at the creation head on, resulting in one of the best albums to date. This album is monumental for the band as it is the most intimate and lyrically stunning work that The Japanese House has put out. Bain used her experiences in heartbreak, lost love, and emotional turmoil to write this album, and the result is lyrics that seem straight out of an epic poetry book. Some songs within the album such as ‘You Seemed So Happy’ and ‘Lilo’ are so heart-wrenching that you can’t help but feel for Bain and the painful endeavors that she has gone through. You realize though, that Amber Bain is a brave and inspiring woman to turn her detrimental experiences into beautiful art. The writing is masterful and Bain’s iconic vocals carry the weight of what she is singing about. Every single song off this album forces you to feel something, and you find out that you do want to feel everything that Bain is conveying as her lyrics are like a siren song that you can’t stop thinking about.
Photo by Jim Mangan
Good sound is something that is equally important to the lyrics, and can be hard to get just right. The balance between lyrics and sound so that both can shine through is a tricky one, but just like all other aspects of this album, Bain stepped up to the plate and delivered a soft yet unyielding sound that couldn’t be more perfect. Sonically, this album is very different compared to the past EP’s and singles, it’s more of a spunky, laugh at your pain kind of sound while still carrying on that quintessential Japanese House vibe. Everything about the sound is so unique, and unlike anything I’ve ever heard before. Good At Falling exhibits that electronic music and edgy acoustic can exist on the same plane, and compliment each other in ways otherwise untouched. Every song is beautifully layered with this mix, creating an ethereal soundscape that is nothing less than enchanting, and this is all complimented by Bain’s soaring voice that softly lulls you into a dream-like state. The vocals that Bain brandishes are so astonishingly remarkable that sometimes you have to rewind the song just to appreciate it. Her range is unbelievable and incomparable to any other, and is the glue that holds all of the songs together.
“Amber Bain is a master of her craft”
Good At Falling is a perfect album. From the order of the songs, to the lyrics, to the sound, to all the things in between, there is almost nothing negative you can say about it. You can tell that every single aspect of it was carefully thought out, and that Bain left no strings undone in the creation. Amber Bain is a master of her craft, and with this only being her first full length album, we cannot wait to see what that powerful mind has in store next. Until then, make sure you stream the album like there’s no tomorrow because this album will be one that is remembered for ages.