Amber Bain was introduced to The 1975′s singer, Matty Healy, as a 17-year-old indie/pop wannabe, and from that point on her fate as a smart songwriter was sealed. Four EPs released between 2015 and 2017, as well as her 2019 debut album, Good at Falling, featured in some shape or form Healy and his drummer bandmate, George Daniel (all releases were on Dirty Hit, The 1975′s record label), so it is not understating it to say that if you’re not fan of Healy and company’s louche, cigarette-stained pop songs then you had best skip In the End It Always Does, the second album she has made as The Japanese House.

Should you hang around, however, you’ll be rewarded with tunes that delicately pivot around electropop, folktronica and the kind of slurred, dreamy pop that can, if it’s done right, get so deep under your skin it will stay there for a long time. Songs such as Touching Yourself, Boyhood, Baby Goes Again, You Always Get What You Want, and One for Sorrow Two for Joni Jones dig down with dollops of production atmospherics (courtesy of Daniel) and shards of insightful lyrics.

Healy features on Sunshine Baby, but you’d be mistaken if you considered this album a 1975 joint – Bain may have friends in high places, but In the End It Always Does confirms her as an astute, assured songwriter who could easily become a star.