The music video for Noah Bates’ debut single Coffee in Japan has arrived, tracing the singer from bustling streetscapes to quieter inner-city retreats.
Noah Bates has shared the music video for his debut single, Coffee in Japan. The single itself arrived in August, and sees the Brisbane singer recall a short-lived and caffeinated love story alongside acoustic guitar licks and poppy finger-click percussion.
Through it all, Bates’ raw and honest vocals shine the brightest, gradually swelling as the instrumentation reaches a climax in the song’s final moments.
Later, the single veers towards rock-ier territory with clamorous cymbal sections and punchy drum rolls, before shimmering synths finalise Bates’ tale of globe-trotting coffee dates.
Here, Bates sings of a holiday fling that was far too temporary, recounting the brief affair from the first kiss to a shared late-night boogie. “We went for coffee in Japan,” Bates pines on the ascendent chorus, “you took me by the hand and asked me to dance.”
Like any great indie-pop cut, Coffee in Japan pairs diaristic storytelling with fuzz rock flairs, with the end result offering listeners an insight into the artist himself.
The track was written, recorded and produced entirely by Bates himself, and was based around a melody and hook he “had been toying with for some time,” he explained in a press statement.
“The idea of going for coffee overseas struck me as quite eccentric, but I managed to find a place in my mind where I could relate to it a bit more,” Bates added.
Coffee in Japan is accompanied by an official music video, which premieres today (October 6) and sees Bates perform alongside bustling Japanese streetscapes and neon-lit shopfronts. Later, the musician takes some quiet time on a park bench, before heading to a lookout with city views stretching untouchably along the nighttime skyline.
Further showcasing his talent both in the studio and behind the camera, the music video was edited by Bates himself, a feat especially impressive given that Coffee in Japan is his first-ever release.
Despite his greenness in the scene, the singer-songwriter has performed at iconic venues like the The Triffid, with plans to debut his live band sometime next year.
2024 will also see the release of Bates’ sophomore single, and if Coffee in Japan is anything to go by, we’re in for a treat. Listen to Noah Bates’ new single below, and catch the premiere of his just-released video above.
