Having spent the last three years since his debut experimenting with new sounds and honing his craft as a songwriter and producer, Gab Strum (aka Japanese Wallpaper) returns with sophomore album 'Glow' (out via Nettwerk Records) and latest single, 'Tell Me What You Mean By That'.
Exploring the tender emotions of late teendom and early 20s turmoil, Strum validates the mundane, no emotion is wasted. “None of the things are about massive changes or massive terrible things that happened, or big breakups,” he says. “It’s all songs about little things and it’s also fine to be affected by little things.” Whimsical, yet wistful, textured but not overwhelming, Strum fuses acoustic and electronic instrumentation, rife with electric guitar riffs which nestle into synth loops. 'Glow' is a purposeful arrangement, and a slight divergence from Japanese Wallpaper’s prior strictly electronic base. Another artistic choice employed on 'Glow' is the absence of featured singers — or rather, the emergence of Strum’s own voice.
Having previously supported the likes of M83 and Lily Allen, showcases at SXSW, Strum recently wrapped a North American tour with friends and collaborators Mallrat and Allday.
Japanese Wallpaper originated after Strum first composed a string of songs in Garageband at the age of 15. After one of the tracks won triple j’s 2014 Unearthed High competition, geared toward Australian emerging artists, Strum’s career was cemented: music was his destiny. While finishing high school, Strum worked on his self-titled debut EP. On it, a pensive track called 'Breathe In', caught the attention of Zach Braff who included the song on the soundtrack for Wish I Was Here. Since then he has produced music for the likes of Mallrat, Holy Holy, Wafia, Eilish Gilligan, swim good now, Bec Sandridge, Allday and gathered fans such as Flume, Gotye, Lily Allen, Nick Murphy, Rostam Batmangjil and Charli XCX who he remixed 'Need Ur Love'.
Armed with a defining new sound and more confidence than the teen that emerged from his debut, Strum continues to prove himself as one of Australia’s most promising talents.
Track List:
1. Ready / Waiting
2. Imaginary Friends
3. Cocoon
4. Float
5. Caving In
6. Tell Me What You Mean By That
7. Tongue Tied
8. Fooling Around
9. Wearing You Out
10. Glow
