Japanese Wallpaper, the artist project of beloved Melbourne producer, writer, and musician Gab Strum, returns today with his new single ‘Leave A Light On’ – the first taste of new music since his critically acclaimed debut album Glow in 2019. LISTEN HERE.

‘Leave A Light On’ is co-crafted with friends and regular collaborators Alex Lahey and Demi Louise, and co-produced by Chris Walla, the co-founder and former multi-instrumentalist and producer for GRAMMY-nominated icons Death Cab for Cutie. A life-long Death Cab fanatic and having been previously tapped for a remix of the band’s 2018 single ‘Northern Lights’, Gab connected with Walla at a speed-dating style songwriting camp where the pair’s union formed over conversations, Janet Jackson records, and lots of subsequent mid-pandemic back-and-forth online. Strum shares, “I keep finding myself in the same orbit as a lot of my heroes, and then becoming friends and getting to do all sorts of things together with them. It’s kind of crazy.” Watch the visualiser HERE.

Where Glow took Japanese Wallpaper’s sound to more ambitious and mammoth sonic destinations than he’d ventured before, Leave A Light On‘s guitar-led, urgent feel is the result of taking those sounds to the tangibility of the stage, learning the art of resonating with an audience at each of the more than 150 shows he played in 2019, either as Japanese Wallpaper or as a touring member of the plethora of other acts he’s associated with as a highly sought after live performer – George Alice and Allday, to name a few – who’ve expanded their live careers with the careful mind of Gab Strum. That holistic collaborative process isn’t disconnected from the freeing and daring evolution of Japanese Wallpaper’s sound.

Speaking to the next phase of Japanese Wallpaper music Strum explains, “It’s really just me in the studio with my friends, which is my favorite thing in the world to do. I feel really lucky to be in a position where I get to work with some of my favourite songwriters and artists and kind of help realise the vision for those people, and in turn, realise it for myself.”

The physical manifestation of Japanese Wallpaper’s group of collaborators and friends will culminate with a one-of-a-kind performance at Melbourne’s The Forum, a formative venue for Gab’s early musical experiences, on July 9 and will feature sets from Japanese Wallpaper alongside heart-on-sleeve rising popstar MAY-A, globally resonant pop and folk artist and former JW band member Gretta Ray, DJ sets from Mallrat, DJ Denim and Alex Lahey and guest appearances from Allday, Airling, George Alice, Megan Washington and more. All ticketing info HERE.

The exciting, evolved sound Japanese Wallpaper brings into 2021 with ‘Leave A Light On‘ and the music to follow shortly is a reflection of a quest for something bigger, the inherent necessity of always moving forward, always keeping his mind open & pushing the needle – which is what has allowed both Gab and his abundant list of collaborators to unlock something they haven’t before, something closer to their core self.

‘Leave A Light On‘, the beginning of an exhilarating new chapter for fans of Japanese Wallpaper,
is out today via Wonderlick Recording Company/Sony Music Australia.
Buy/stream it here.

PRAISE FOR JAPANESE WALLPAPER 

“Totally sublime melancholic electronica”
triple j

“Beautifully subdued”
NME Magazine

“Triumphant and unconventional”
Ones To Watch

“Mesmerizing alt-pop”
Earmilk

Stay connected with Japanese Wallpaper: 
Instagram | Twitter | Soundcloud | Facebook | Bandcamp