Eddie Japan craft an elegant new wave pop opera in ‘Pop Fiction’

The cinematic Boston septet unveils ambitious and philosophical new album on Friday, April 28 via Rum Bar Records

Led by singles ‘Walk Away’ and ‘Time Machine’ feat. Greg Hawkes of The Cars

Experience Eddie Japan: Listen on Spotify x Watch on YouTube

Photo Credit: Joshua Pickering Photography

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BOSTON, Mass. [April 28, 2023] – Exactly 180 years ago, give or take a few months, Danish existentialist philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote: “I want to be life, not this life or that life, just vitality itself.” It was a line from his first published work, Either/Or, and carries the same weight and impact nearly two centuries later, offering a choice between two ways of living one’s life: the aesthetic or the ethical. The aesthetic life is devoted to pleasure in all its forms, and the ethical is a life devoted to domestic and civic responsibility. That choice, and all that comes before, during, and after making it, is at the core of Eddie Japan’s new album, Pop Fiction, a new wave pop opera set for release on Friday, April 28 via Rum Bar Records. 

That introduction alone suggests this isn’t just any ol’ album, but Eddie Japan isn’t just any ol’ band. The Boston cinematic-pop septet has made a career out inverting expectations and presenting the unexpected, from conquering the stage (winning the 2013 Rock and Roll Rumble, performing the music of The Cars with frequent collaborator Greg Hawkes, and touring with Martha Davis and the Motels) to conquering the screen (2015 single “Albert” spawned new musicians around the globe in Rock Band 4, all while garnering more than a million streams on Spotify). 

Now they unveil perhaps their most ambitious effort to date. With tone-setting artwork by acclaimed graphic artist Todd Alcott, Pop Fiction takes the 2019 EP The Amorous Adventures of Edward Japan and applies six new tracks to complete the kinda-sorta concept album, including a pair of recent singles: last fall’s infectious “Walk Away” and March’s pop-rock swirler “Time Machine,” featuring electronic-music pioneer Hawkes on synthesizer. It was mostly recorded, mixed, and produced by guitarist Eric Brosius at his home studio, which also doubles as the official Eddie Japan rehearsal space. The band is set to showcase the record June 3 at Faces Brewing Co. in Malden, for the official release party alongside Magen Tracy and the Missed Connections and Carissa Johnson.  

Pop Fiction and its libretto styling takes the musical force that is Eddie Japan, a sterling sonic cocktail stirred with glam, new wave, indie, pop-rock and soundtracked for a retro-futuristic Great Gatsby party for our redefined ‘20s, and pulls the listener inward, furthering its themes of boredom, loneliness, love, betrayal, fantasy and regret. And it does that by continuing the story of the metafictional Edward Japan, portrayed as a sort of suburban Don Giovanni, attempting to reckon for which of these paths, as illustrated in Kierkegaard’s Either/Or, he is destined. And it aligns a path not unlike that of the protagonist in “Deacon Blues” by Steely Dan.  

“The record is really about this lost character who has sort of checked out of the system, so to speak, and is attempting to create what he imagines as an idyllic life of pleasure in the margins of suburbia, but always with the pull of what he left behind,” says Eddie Japan vocalist and songwriter David Santos. 

In addition to the thematic stylings and engrossing storyline, there’s also a musical evolution at play here in the core sound of Eddie Japan, one that arches forward beyond 2017’s Golden Age and their slightly Spaghetti Western and baroque-pop beginnings in the late 2000s.    

“As time went on, there was a natural progression away from such a specific sound, and there was a desire to go in new directions,” adds Santos. “Eventually, guitars became more prominent, and we began experimenting with more modern keyboard sounds. But however we’ve evolved, I think there is an elegance to our sound that connects our various time periods. We describe our music as cinematic-pop, which we think conveys a certain dramatic, widescreen appeal.” 

Part of the embrace of electronic sounds is aided by the partnership with Hawkes, who produced Golden Age before becoming a sort-of honorary member of the band. In addition to appearing on “Time Machine,” as well as album track “I Can’t Wait,” Hawkes and Eddie Japan have a blossoming on-stage relationship, with the band performing recurring full sets of Cars material with the iconic musician. The next shows arrive April 29 at Daryl’s House in Pawling, New York, the day after the album drop; and October 21, when they play Connecticut’s Broad Brook Opera House. 

“Having Greg Hawkes add his signature synth sound to two tracks on the record was beyond gratifying,” admits Santos. “Our drummer Chuck Ferriera was in the room when Greg recorded his parts, and he got video of Greg playing the miniKORG. Greg was really into it and having fun so the whole thing is kind of mind-blowing for us.” 

Of course, that’s just one highlight of many Eddie Japan experienced while crafting Pop Fiction, which exudes a great deal of fun and enjoyment despite its weighty lyrical subject matter. “There are also some great moments throughout the record where each person shines: Emily Drohan’s voice on ‘The Pull of the Moon’; Chuck Membrino’s bass solo on ‘Lost Weekend’; Chuck’s drums on ‘Summer Hair’; Eric Brosius’ guitar outro on ‘Undertow’; Bart LoPiccolo trading licks with Greg on ‘Time Machine’; and Aaron Rosenthal’s keys on ‘The Dandy of Suburbia’ – hearing all of those things for the first time gave me goosebumps.”

Santos hopes the listener gets goosebumps as well. It’s not easy releasing albums in 2023, but sometimes a band has more to say than what can fit in a tidy single designed for the attention-deficit era. Sometimes, and we think Kierkegaard would agree, a story needs to unfold at length for it to be properly absorbed, appreciated, and deciphered. After all, choices need to be made.  

“We’ve been hearing for the last decade or so that the album format is dead,” Santos concludes. “We hope this record does something to beat back that notion. Pop Fiction is a definite album experience and we would love for listeners to enjoy the record from start to finish at least a few times so that the connections between the songs are discovered. In that same spirit, we hope folks who may have grown up listening to LPs get the sense that we trust their intelligence and that this record is for them.” 

Contact Michael Marotta at michael@knyvet.com for all media and radio inquiries and opportunities, and reach Eddie Japan directly at  eddiejapanmusic@gmail.com. 

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Eddie Japan is:

Eric Brosius:  Guitars

Emily Drohan: Vocals

Chuck Ferreira: Drums and percussion

Bart LoPiccolo: Guitars

Charles Membrino: Bass

Aaron Rosenthal: Keyboards

David Santos: Vocals

with Greg Hawkes: synthesizer on “I Can’t Wait” and “Time Machine”

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Eddie Japan bio:

The music of Eddie Japan has always existed in the spaces in between. It’s the elegant noise and cinematic melody that thrives in the slashes that bind genres together, allowing the celebrated Boston cinematic-pop septet to elicit a spectrum of genres – new wave, pop-rock, glam, indie, alternative, plus that new retro-pop sound that has yet to have a name – over the course of one tightly-knit pop song. 

Eddie Japan has been a magnetic force since its inception, buoyed by a soaring, dramatic sound that sounds nothing like anything else in the city it calls home. To some, Eddie Japan has commanded the stage – winning the 2013 Rock And Roll Rumble; resurrecting the music of The Cars with the iconic Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band’s keyboardist and synth pioneer Greg Hawkes; and amassing a cult following around New England. To others, Eddie Japan has commanded the screen – 2019 single “Summer Hair” was included on Harmonix’s digital music festival game Fuser; and breakout 2015 single “Albert” was featured in Rock Band 4, launching countless musicians and guitar hopefuls around the world while the track generated over a million plays, and counting, on Spotify. 

But what Eddie Japan does best, perhaps, is command attention, from the Boston Music Awards to New England Music Awards, The Boston Globe to WGBH, to shows and tours with The Motels, The Fixx and Ultravox’s Midge Ure. Spring 2023 album Pop Fiction proves the Eddie Japan story is still unfolding, like new chapters to your favorite novel. 

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‘Pop Fiction’ album artwork:

Artwork by Todd Alcott; Back cover collage by Elaine Hawkes

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‘Pop Fiction’ credits:

Words and music by David Santos

Recorded, mixed, and produced by Eric Brosius

Additional recording on “If I Should Fall” by Alex Allinson at The Bridge Sound and Stage in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Arranged by Eddie Japan

Mastering by Pete Weiss at Jade Cow Music Services in Somerville, Massachusetts

Artwork design by Todd Alcott

Back cover collage by Elaine Hawkes

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Recent media praise for Eddie Japan:

“Eddie Japan have long seemed like a band out of time. The new song combines New Wave, pop rock, glam, art-pop, etc. to create this sound that’s a modern take on the 1980's. This is a ridiculously fun theatrical pop song that both is and isn’t an 80's throwback. It’s heavily inspired by that decade, but it doesn’t quite sound like music released back then. Eddie Japan make music that isn’t going to fit any label cleanly, and that’s half the fun. Plus, anyone that lets us hear Greg Hawkes on a synthesizer is ok in our book!” _If It’s Too Loud

“‘Time Machine’ takes the unforgettable melodic sounds and electric energies of Eddie Japan and the unmistakable sound of Greg Hawkes on synthesizer and the results are stunningly brilliant.” _The Whole Kameese

“Eddie Japan’s newly released song ‘Time Machine’ is from the forthcoming album ‘Pop Fiction.’ Greg Hawkes from The Cars adds some synth. It only takes a few notes for Greg to initiate an avalanche of memories. He carries The Cars’ sound with him. It’s fortunate that Eddie Japan has the song writing and arrangement chops to accommodate Greg because you can’t help but compare… whether you want to or not. Eddie Japan has been working hard and this album has the potential to give the 2013 Rumble winner another big boost of attention.” _Boston Groupie News

“[David] Santos’ vocals are lush and smooth, and the song’s tone is upbeat and bouncy, and when Emily Drohan’s harmonies kick in, the effect is a joyous escalation. There’s a bounce to Chuck Ferreira’s drums and a wonderful squeal and crunch to Eric Brosius and Bart LoPiccolo’s guitars and Charles Membrino’s bass. [Greg] Hawkes’ synthesizer gives the song a great touch of Ed Wood sci-fi glee, and Aaron Rosenthal’s keyboard runs smoothly underneath the whole thing, lending a lightness to the whole song.” _Worcester Magazine

“[Greg] Hawkes and Eddie Japan rocked. Yeah, they synth-rocked, too – that’s Hawkes’ forte – but there was appropriately blistering electric guitar from Eric Brosius and Bart LoPiccolo and thundering, precise rhythm from drummer Chuck Ferreira and bassist Charles Membrino. Hawkes, whose position in The Cars was to the side, stage left, was on the front line, joining singers David Santos and Emily Drohan. It’s not that this meant it was excessively synth-heavy; it meant Hawkes – yes, the name brand in the band – was in prime position to step out and reminisce and sporadically tell Cars tales.” _Rock N Roll Globe 

“Leave it to Eddie Japan to come back into our lives with a single titled “Walk Away.” But the Boston band is certainly no stranger to musical juxtapositions, existing with a certain elegance and class deep within our usually grimy garage rock city.” _Vanyaland

“With The Amorous Adventures of Edward Japan, the band Eddie Japan has created an interesting bit of metafiction, crafting a musical narrative around a character with the same name as the band and using him as a lens to examine middle-aged lust and adultery, divorce and suburban malaise. Interestingly, Eddie Japan, the character, is richly realized, and manages to be simultaneously sympathetic and a little unlikable. This dichotomy gives the songs a sense of realness, and gives Eddie’s descent a sort of palpability.” _Worcester Telegram

“Greg Hawkes is the keyboard genius behind those revolution synthesizer bleeps, blips, whirs and whooshes in ‘Magic’, ‘Moving in Stereo’ and every other Cars song. Eddie Japan is Boston’s best live band (according to both the Boston Music Awards and Rock n’ Roll Rumble). Together the rock legend and local new wave/new romantic/glam rock/indie pop band do your favorite Cars classics.” _Boston Herald

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Media contact and press inquiries: michael@knyvet.com 

Band contact and other inquiries: eddiejapanmusic@gmail.com 

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