Zach Stephenson of Hockey Dad has been flying solo recently, but took some time to team up with Maisie Everett of The Belair Lip Bombs to buy some ‘Jeans In Japan’ for their charming new single. 

Universes collide here for lovers of Australian indie-rock, as Stephenson injects a well-travelled world view into the lyrics of this comforting track. He takes the song through the American states of Idaho, Kansas, Texas, and New York, before flying over to Japan and Thailand. Stephenson even makes a reference to the “Tasman Strait” in the chorus, a nod to his home country. 

‘Jeans In Japan’ seems poignant for Stephenson at this time in his career, having spent over a decade writing, performing, and touring as part of indie-rock duo Hockey Dad, and now being out on his own. The song has a nomadic loneliness and faraway feeling to it underneath the warmth and harmony of its arrangement. 

Maisie Everett’s vocals rise to complete the track, fitting beautifully with Stephenson’s: they’re softly reminiscent of Phoebe Bridgers’ performance in her 2020 song ‘Kyoto’. Somebody should investigate why so many musicians keep getting pensive and waxing poetic about Japan. Everett and Stephenson close off the song together with a neat rhyme in “got these jeans in Japan / got these dreams in my hand”, reminding us of the wistful nature of this tune. It takes some of the energy of a folk revival song, think ‘Song for Woody’ or ‘500 Miles’, and brings it to an indie-rock sound profile. 

Zach Stephenson has plans to keep proving himself as a talented solo songwriter, with ‘Jeans In Japan’  being the third single from his upcoming album ‘I Needed To Hear Me Say It’, out on October 30th.

Rory Williams

@roryrockett

Image: ‘Jeans In Japan’ Single Cover

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