Amber Bain and her band The Japanese House made a stop in Birmingham on their latest UK tour last weekend. It was a cold and wet evening in the second city but this was vastly contrasted with feelings of excitement and anticipation that were building in the O2 Academy. She is touring her latest album In The End It Always Does, which saw critical acclaim and collaborations with George Daniel (as producer) and Matty Healy of The 1975, with Katie Gavin of MUNA also featuring. The record in my opinion is a contender for album of the year.

Before Bain and Co took to the stage we were treated to support from Pencil, a new band featuring two members from The Japanese House. I was impressed with the band, especially their unique utilisation of the violin in their performance, they’re definitely a band to look out for. It was then time for the main act as The Japanese House came onto stage with the sweet-sounding piano introduction of their single ‘Sad to Breathe’ playing in the background, which transitions into a much faster, more upbeat track which really got the crowd moving, making it the perfect opener to their set.

Bains’ exceptional vocals were evident from the get go with another great crowd mover from the band’s latest album, ‘Touching Yourself’ coming up next. This track is one of my personal favourites and after just two songs the tone was already set that this was going to be an incredibly enjoyable show. Following this Bain took a moment to thank the fans for coming, stating that this sold out show was ‘their biggest ever in Birmingham’, reflecting their growth in popularity of late which was only amplified by an appearance at Finsbury Park earlier this year in support of label-mates, The 1975.

After this moment of gratitude Bain went back to her 2020 EP ‘Chewing Cotton Wool’ to perform the synth fuelled track ‘Something Has to Change’, this song was especially great performed live. Around this point in the show, Bain took a cuddly toy Dachshund resembling her dog Joni Jones and held it for a while before placing it on the side of the keyboard in what was a nice moment of interaction between the crowd and the performer. ‘Morning Pages’, another track from their latest album was next and proved to be a favourite on the night, with the crowd dotingly singing various parts of the song back to Bain and her band.

We were then transported back to 2019 where Bain performed three songs off her debut album ‘Good at Falling’: ‘Follow My Girl’, ‘i saw you in a dream’ and ‘You Seemed so Happy’. This part of the set had a great nostalgic feeling to it and it was evident that Bain herself was enjoying going back to this era of her music. In between these throwbacks fittingly the first single from The Japanese Houses’ latest era, ‘Boyhood’ was played which Bain tenderly dedicated to the LGBTQIA+ community. The set then took a slow and sombre turn with performances of ‘Baby Goes Again’ and ‘Over There’ being performed which elicited Amber Bains’ phenomenal vocal ability. It is hard to associate The Japanese House with any one style or tone of music and this was made ever apparent at the show where Bain playfully stated something along the lines of ‘let’s play something less depressing’ before the exceptionally groovy beat of ‘Friends’ kicked in. The crowd duly responded to this switch of tone and danced along to the gleeful track. As we entered the later stages of the set Bain took the opportunity to play some of her older fan favourites like ‘Worms’, Chewing ‘Cotton Wool’, ‘Maybe You’re the Reason’ before ‘finishing the set’ with ‘Dionne’. Following this Bain and co left the stage and swiftly chants of ‘one more song’ ensued, imploring the band to come back on the stage. A request from the crowd which was happily accepted as The Japanese House reentered the stage for the encore. The first song of the encore was the heartfelt track ‘One For Sorrow, Two For Joni Jones’ which Bain lovingly dedicated to her dog before ending the night with the band’s new hit single ‘Sunshine Baby’ which rounded out the show on the highest of notes.

The set and performance was excellent from start to finish, utilising tracks old and new with Bain’s vocals amazing throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed this show and am eagerly anticipating news on The Japanese Houses’ next UK tour.

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