The Daily Spin, July 10
The Japanese House | In The End It Always Does
Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023.
Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here. Additionally, you can check out a list of my favorite song from each album right here.
Album: In The End It Always Does (2023)
Artist: The Japanese House
Link:
I won’t be making an official statement on this until the end of the year (frankly, probably early 2024, when I do the Daily Spin wrap-up), but this is a strong contender for my Album of the Year, completely out of left field.
I’m stunned at the way this hits everything I wanted from boygenius, nailing a lot of that femme indie sound that appeals to my melancholic side in a way that feels far more cohesive than boygenius did - I’m sure, in part, because it’s just one person compared to three, but even then, Amber Bain stretches across genres with practiced ease.
It’s clear she’s most comfortable in downtempo indie scenarios, and that’s where she finds her best on this album as well, with opener ‘Spot Dog’ and mid-late pairing ‘Friends’ and ‘Sunshine Baby’ standing out in a field of strong contenders, but each and every song on the record has sparkling moments, like the piano fill to close the album from ‘One for sorrow, two for Joni Jones’ - even when the tracks aren’t necessarily at their absolute best, there are moments of delight that filter through.
Joy and melancholy pair with sadness and elation in almost equal fervor to give even the calmest tunes depth and emotional heft, in a combination equal parts devastating and touching, exactly the sort of album I needed at this junction in my life.
Rating: 9.4/10
Best Tracks: Spot Dog; Friends; Sunshine Baby
Worst Tracks: Morning Pages