Listen to The Japanese House’s country-inspired new single ‘:)’

The Japanese House has shared a country-inspired new single ‘:)’ (pronounced ‘Smiley Face’) – check it out below.

• READ MORE: The Japanese House: “It’s much more interesting to not be restrictive and embarrass yourself”

Described in a press release as an “ode to happiness”, the bright country-pop track follows the artist’s recent second album ‘In The End It Always Does’ and tells the story of how her current relationship and the effect it had – “Something’s happening/I feel happier/I could be losing my mind,” she sings in the chorus.

“‘Smiley Face’ is a song I wrote when I was very excited about talking to someone off a dating app,” said the artist (real name Amber Bain). “She lived in Detroit and I was fantasising about flying to meet her. I was in a session at the time for someone else 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.”

Bain co-produced the song alongside George Daniel from Dirty Hit labelmates The 1975. She had also opened for them on their ‘Still… At Their Very Best’ tour earlier this year.

Check out ‘:)’ below:

Bain is currently in the middle of a US tour and is also set to headline the Festival Republic stage at Reading and Leeds in August.

In our four-star review of her latest album, NME said: “If Bain’s lyrics are poised to pull you one way on ‘In The End It Always Does’, her voice and instrumentals yank you back in the other direction – it’s disorientating, dizzying and utterly intoxicating. If there’s one thing that the second Japanese House album reaffirms – it’s that the artist never surrenders any less than her whole self to the process.”

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