Album Review: Tokyo Tea Room - ‘Feel Forever’

Tokyo Tea Room, who hail from Margate, UK are back with their sophomore record Feel Forever out everywhere, this Friday on Nice Guys! The band are a collective that formed during their years at university and have exceeded their own expectations as far as reach was concerned even for their first tour stateside, which was sold out. The band seeks to creat tracks and tell stories based in the human experience thematically. Sonically, they combine elements of indie, pop, with a touch of psych, blending intricate guitars/synth/keys/vocals of Daniel James Elliott, the understated and perfectly hushed vocals/keys of Beth Dunn, in conjunction with the rhythm of Ben Marshall (bass), Sam Teather (drums), and Sam Ewens (brass).

On Feel Forever, Elliott served as songwriter and co-producer, a role he shared with Kristofer Harris. This was the first time that Elliott had shared production. This can always be an interesting decision when expanding the circle when it comes to voices in production. Sometimes this can be helpful with reining in ideas in the editing/polishing process, whereas other times it can provide the band another contributing voice. Regarding the recording and production process, Elliott stated via presser: “We took a yacht rock approach to the recording, taking our time to smooth all the edges and make something that felt more polished than the last record. Both of us spent hours obsessing over the smallest detail, which felt very apt for this album. The result is something that we are all very proud of, it's a different kind of Tokyo Tea Room that has come out the other side of it, but it feels right and I hope people enjoy listening.”

The collaborative process in production and recording and the methodical process the band takes to songwriting and music creation show on the final product. Feel Forever is clean, polished, and deliberate in it’s choices. For a band on their sophomore release, (relatively young in terms of the life of a band), Tokyo Tea Room feel wise beyond their years. That is, they blend elements of other genres such as pop, indie, alt, and psych to creat a sound uniquely their own. I know I say this most times, but Feel Forever is a record you should start at the top and let play out (as I said, this is my general rule for music). However, on this record, I believe it truly allows you to appreciate the story the Elliott, Dunn, and company are telling. The record is extremely digestible from a listening perspective, as each track averages approximately three minutes. However, it’s one that’s extremely fast moving.

In general, the record is a vibe, and I didn’t have any tracks that I felt stood head and shoulders above the others, as I felt the record was strong throughout. There were elements of every track that I thoroughly enjoyed, I thought Tokyo Tea Room did a great job of creating understated verses, by pairing Dunn’s vocals with meticulously created guitars from Elliott, that were accentuated by the rest of the band on the rhythm before popping off a bit on the hooks. This is music I feel is a great play for driving at night, or perhaps a rainy day as it’s not sonically overbearing. Don’t get me wrong, there are choruses that pop in tempo, etc. But that said, I don’t feel like there is every a point where the band is kicking your teeth in with sonic overload, which works well for what they are doing. Feel Forever is a solid winner with strong performances from all involved throughout.

Rating - 8.5/10