Despite it only being their first offering, ‘Rush’ sees Goodnight Japan storm out of the gates. However, considering the illustrious background of each of the band’s members, it’s no surprise that they’ve clearly got their finger on the pulse - frontman Abel Ibanez G. is the founder of prominent Mexican magazine ERRR Magazine, bass player Gemma Conroy trades her time between working as an international model and science journalist, and drummer Joel van Gastel was snatched up from alt-pop crew Jenny Broke The Window.

‘Rush’ bursts open with layers of fuzzed-out guitars over a steady drum and bass groove, and hits with an immediate sense of nostalgia, playing like a soundtrack to 90’s car-rides and high school dances. Although the track doesn’t necessarily cover too much ground over its opening minutes, it doesn’t really need to, with Abel’s soulful voice filling the song with a powerful poignance as the band drive along underneath. ‘Rush’ shifts slightly at the bridge, and opens up with some jangly lead guitars as Abel repeats “cause this time, I’ve got you”, before the song slowly drifts away.

To get some extra insight into the track, we had a chat with Abel to find out what influences lead to ‘Rush’ being created.

The two main characters in the story have a very particular approach to language and its use - the way we say things, and more specifically, the way we hear things. Konrad, the main character, is always performing "listening experiments" on his wife, repeating the same word or phrase over and over in her ear. The lyrics of the song play with this idea, both characters repeat the same line over and over - the difference is that we don't know who is speaking. Perhaps in the song, both characters are conducting this experiment on each other.


Beginners, a film by Mike Mills

In Beginners, the main character Oliver is not able to keep a stable romantic relationship. He has had many partners but none of them have lasted. When he meets Anna, it seems like things could be different. He wants things to be different this time, but he struggles to let himself go after all the relationship failures he is been through. At the end of ‘Rush’, the lyrics say "but this time / let go / 'cause this time / I've got you".


Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah!, an album by Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah!

This album might be the one I’ve listened to the most in my life, I enjoy all the songs and the raw sounds of them all. I like how the guitars mix with each other, to the point that sometimes it feels like you can’t tell them apart. We tried to do this too with the vocals that say "You say / you don't want to rush / you say / you don't want to fall" - we don't really know when does one voice ends and the other one starts.