"Face Like Thunder" is a single by English

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

act

The Japanese House Amber Mary Bain (born 13 July 1995), known professionally as the Japanese House, is an English indie pop musician from Buckinghamshire. Bain contributes vocals and plays guitar, synthesizer and keyboard for her music. Bain decided to pursue a ...

(Amber Bain) from her third EP '' Swim Against the Tide''. "Face Like Thunder" was released on 26 September 2016.

Background

Bain originally wrote "Face Like Thunder" years in advance of its release, before she released her debut EP Pools to Bathe In in 2015. It was later included as the first single from Swim Against the Tide, Bain's third EP. In an interview with Atwood Magazine, Bain stated that the song was "vaguely I guess, about a couple, maybe breaking up or maybe coming to the end of the relationship — maybe it's a couple or maybe it's two parts of the same person". The desert imagery of the song's music video was inspired by the song's themes of loneliness and endings. When planning the music video for "Face Like Thunder", Bain, who is a lesbian, decided to cast a male as her romantic interest to avoid accusations that she was " umpingon the lesbian bandwagon". She later described this as "stupid" and said that she no longer cared what people thought about her sexuality.

Release

"Face Like Thunder" was premiered on

Annie Mac Annie Macmanus (born 18 July 1978), known professionally as Annie Mac, is an Irish DJ, broadcaster and writer. She hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1, including BBC Switch and ''Future Sounds''. She also DJed in various locations, includ ...

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

show on 26 September 2016 and was released the same day. Bain released a music video for "Face Like Thunder" directed by Gareth Philips on 17 October 2016.

Reception

"Face Like Thunder" was well received by critics, with several making comparisons between Bain's vocals and those of

Imogen Heap Imogen Jennifer Jane Heap ( ; born 9 December 1977) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and entrepreneur. She is considered a pioneer in pop music, particularly electropop, and in music technology. While attending the ...

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. History ''Consequence of Sound'' was founded in Septem ...

praised the song's use of cheerful pop sounds to mask emotionally heavy lyrics, and made positive comparisons to

Future The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ex ...

and

Of Montreal of Montreal is an American indie pop band from Athens, Georgia. It was founded by frontperson Kevin Barnes in 1996, named after a failed romance between Barnes and a woman "of Montreal". The band is identified as part of the Elephant 6 collec ...

. In its review of the '' Swim Against the Tide'' EP, Read Dork called the single "arguably the perfect soundtrack to any late-summer drive, with the sort of hook that would bring Smash Hits back to life in a heartbeat".

References

{{authority control 2016 songs 2016 singles The Japanese House songs Dirty Hit singles