Review – The Japanese House, Bristol Trinity Centre, October 18th

In typical bristol manner the night of the Japanese house’s highly anticipated trinity centre gig was met with torrential rain. Did this stop the fans who had begun queuing for the prime barrier spot hours before? Absolutely not. Since her debut album in 2019, Amber Bain has accumulated a cult like fanbase which spans across the world, her continued collaboration with the 1975’s George Daniel, aiding her musical prowess whilst crafting this beautifully intimate, but arguably a lot more energetic LP.

Starting the night off to a packed out venue, the entire room was buzzing with excitement, the set starting with fan favourite “touching yourself” a playful dive into yearning to touch their partner despite distance between them.Despite the desperate lyricism, Bain created a bouncy and welcoming atmosphere to draw the crowd in for the rest of the evening. This was followed by melancholic “sad to breathe” (one of my favourites) which similarly gives a zest of life to an otherwise mournful subject matter.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Bain had decided to involve many of her debut tracks on the set list with fan favourites “ something has to change” ( a track 16 year old me definitely screamed in her room) among other debut tunes “ follow my girl” and the critically acclaimed “ saw you in a dream” a dreamy melody driven track emphasising the feeling when the person you love enters your slumber night in and night out.Unlike many of her songs, this debut track escapes Bains multitudes of vocoders, and brings the crowd back down to earth with this emotionally charged track.

Bain was incredibly attentive with her awed fanbase, cracking jokes the entire set when her vocal board started malfunctioning. Like a seasoned pro, she laughed it off and read people’s signs or responded to the excitable crowd when they shouted up at the stage. It appeared throughout they wanted to get down and be amongst the crowd, inching closer and closer to the edge of the stage whilst still holding perfect pitch. A highlight of the night for me was when an uninvited guest ( a small spider) started running up and down guitarist kamran khans mic, causing five minutes of laughter with Bain scurrying up and down the stage trying to get it off the microphone.

Bain has never been shy of their support for the LGBTQ+ community as a part of it themselves – starting the track “boyhood” with a short but impactful speech about the atrocities being committed against the trans community by the U.K. government. This was met with A room shattering cheer, and highlights how important of an artist the Japanese house is to queer people around the world. I’m incredibly glad to support someone who isn’t afraid to stand against those who wrong so many.

Another highlight of the night for me was the song “ Friends” a bold Mish- mash of auto tune and lyrics about sleeping with multiple people at once, it certainly got the room moving with its disco guitar.

As the night grew to a close, and the temperature of the room sky rocketed due to the amount of dancing and screaming, Bain started to slow down the set with the heartbreakingly existential “maybe you’re the reason” a distorted synth carrying the crowd into a state of remembrance as Bain recounts the period of time where they had to learn to be alone again. It was at this point of the gig when I saw tears well up in eyes, many people holding onto their friends in a show of solidarity amongst everyone in the room.

To end the night Bain sat down for the first time at the keyboard and played arguably one of their saddest songs in their catalog “one for sorrow, two for Joni Jones” the room went completely silent. It was there when you begin to realise the beauty of Bains’ lyricism, the lack of manipulation to the track allows for their vocal range to soar, creating a magic sense of calm to the sold out venue, a thoughtful atmosphere being perfectly curated as Bain, band and gig goer in turn lamented dead relationships.

To give a burst of energy for the encore, Bain and band bounced back onto stage to do one of the most well known tracks in their discography “ Sunshine baby” a hopeful search for the person which will bring them light and love unlike other relationships. Bain is backed up by Matty Healy on vocals, giving the song an extra layer to its desperate tone.

The crowd and myself were left dazzled by the night, Bain and band performing with dynamism and a sincere emotional connection with the fans before them. As Bain works on more music, you can see them coming into themselves more as an artist, the lyrics becoming even more intimate and relatable as they develop their sound as the years go on.

📸📝 Rosie Risdale

Portrait and Music photographer