The Japanese House

The Japanese House is the recording project of English singer and songwriter Amber Bain. Emerging in the mid-2010s on the Dirty Hit label, home to The 1975, she released a run of atmospheric EPs — including Pools to Bathe In and Clean — that established her signature blend of dreamy, effects-laden vocals and glassy electronic production, often produced in collaboration with Matty Healy and George Daniel of The 1975. Her voice, frequently layered and harmonized with itself, gives the project an intimate, almost genderless ambiguity that became a defining trait.

Bain's music draws on influences ranging from Bon Iver's vocal manipulation to the melodic warmth of Fleetwood Mac, filtered through a modern, minimalist pop-electronic lens sometimes compared to James Blake or SOHN. Her debut full-length, Good at Falling (2019), expanded on the EP-era sound with more fully realized songwriting about heartbreak and identity, while her later album In the End (2023) leaned into a more expansive, emotionally direct sound following personal loss.

Songs like «Saw You in a Dream», «Lilo», and «Maybe You're the Reason» showcase her knack for pairing melancholic lyrics with shimmering, hook-driven production. Across her catalogue, The Japanese House has remained a distinctive voice within the UK's alternative pop landscape, prized for emotional candor wrapped in lush, textured soundscapes.