The Japanese House (the acclaimed project of Amber Bain) released her new single “:)” aka Smiley Face in June, which is a country-tinged, jangly, unabashed ode to happiness. “‘Smiley Face’ is a song I wrote when I was very excited about talking to someone off a dating app,” said The Japanese House. “She lived in Detroit, and I was fantasising about flying to meet her. I was in a session at the time for someone else’s stuff, but I couldn’t help this song spilling out of me, I was in some sort of frenzy. Turns out I did buy the plane tickets, now we’re engaged.” The song is her newest original song since the release of her critically acclaimed album, ‘In the End It Always Does’ that was released last year. She had recorded a cover of “Super Trouper” by ABBA for the ‘ITEIAD Sessions,’ a collection of live versions of songs from the album In the End It Always Does. Of the cover, Bain mentioned that although it wasn’t a favorite, she relished in the challenge to reinterpret it, “once I stripped it back and read the lyrics, these lyrics are so sad, they’re so poignant,” she shared, “the chords are so gorgeous, when you dial it back it’s just amazing songwriting and I love that when song you can just play a song on a piano and it sounds heart-wrenching.”
Check out the latest music from The Japanese House!
The Japanese House spoke with B-Sides host Pete Mar at Outside Lands 2024 about performing at the festival, her pending nuptials, how it’s inspired her to create happy music and more.
