As a Scot its always great when I can shout out fellow Scots work here on Static Sounds Club. It’s to Glasgow we go to meet Japan Review. Composed of Genna Foden and Adam O’Sullivan this talented duo produces an intriguing blend of genres. That shoegaze wash mingles with lo fi beats and an undercurrent of hypnotic psychedelia. It’s a heady concoction.
Ahead of the release of the bands second album The Slow Down on Blackjack Illuminist Records they are treating us to a sneak peek with the single ‘Go Around’. I asked the band to give us an introduction to the single and how it came to be.
“There is always a lag between writing and recording an album and releasing it, so we basically carried on writing during recording of our first album. ‘Go Around’ was the first thing we wrote for our second album ‘The Slow Down’ and it immediately felt like it belonged to something new but could also bridge the gap between what we’ve done and what we wanted to do next.”
“We wanted to make accessible, electronic pop that had the same amount of space as mid-era New Order recordings. A lot of the rest of the new record is a bit more experimental than our first, but it all orbits our weird blend of shoegaze and electronics, and this sums up our sound pretty well. If you don’t know Japan Review this is probably a good place to start!”
So, start there we will.
The song opens on a pulsing beat and chiming chords. As the bass and vocals come in there is an eighties synth pop aesthetic at play feeling new and nostalgic at once. In the second half the track gains a bit of bite and we are floating along on glorious glide guitar.
I really enjoy how ‘Go Around’ evolves over its three-minute run time. I’m reminded of the arrangements on that classic debut album from Lovesliescrushing with a real focus on interesting textures and changes.
If you like a little more depth to your shoegaze then Japan Review are the band for you. I’ve been lucky enough to get an advance listen to their new album and it’s stunning. Head over to the Japan Review Bandcamp now to download ‘Go Around’.
You can follow Japan Review on social media here…
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