Atwood Journal’s writers talk about Japanese Breakfast’s fourth album, ‘For Melancholy Brunettes (& unhappy girls),’ an adventurous dive into mythos and a lovely examination of identification, grief, and girlhood.
Featured listed below are Atwood writers Adam Davidson, Hannah Burns, Josh Weiner, Kylie Gurewitz, and Marc Maleri!
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To begin, what’s your relationship with Japanese Breakfast’s music?
Josh Weiner: I’m an off-the-cuff fan. I bought to see them carry out twice (fortunate me!) in a two-month span again in 2022 – first at Boston Calling, after which at Lollapalooza. That twin expertise impressed me to go try their album Jubilee and I loved it, most of all the only “Be Candy.” Thus, I’m open-minded about trying out their follow-up effort, For Melancholy Brunettes (& unhappy girls).
Kylie Gurewitz: Informal Japanese Breakfast enjoyer right here. I solely knew “Boyish” and “Highway Head” earlier than Jubilee. I bought fairly into Jubilee round 2022, particularly “Paprika” and “Slide Sort out.” I learn the primary quarter of ‘Crying in H Mart’ earlier than I needed to return it to the library, however after this document I’ll positively end it. Hoping to see them reside this album cycle.
Adam Davidson: I first heard them upon launch of Jubilee – It got here extremely advisable, a must-listen from a number of sources, so I put it on my listening listing and was immediately impressed. Jubilee ended up being one in every of my favorite albums of 2021, a pleasant shock from a bunch I had not heard of earlier than. So once I noticed they had been placing out a brand new launch I knew I needed to take heed to the comply with up!
Marc Maleri: I’d say I’m reasonably conversant in their discography, Jubilee being the document that I do know probably the most. Numerous occasions at serving jobs, I’d hear songs enjoying from that document. Their music brings again some enjoyable albeit anxious reminiscences, so I’m completely happy to listen to this new document. I believe Michelle Zauner’s voice has all the time been one thing that intrigued me most about Japanese Breakfast, particularly on this mission that permits it to shine a little bit bit extra in stripped again moments.
Hannah Burns: I discovered Japanese Breakfast in highschool, obsessively enjoying “Boyish” and “Highway Head” from Gentle Sounds. I didn’t return and take heed to Psychopomp till I learn Zauner’s memoir. It was such a bittersweet introduction to the document, and I cherished each track. I noticed one of many remaining reveals of the Jubilee tour final yr at Radio Metropolis. She was fascinating, among the best live shows I’ve been to within the metropolis.
What are your preliminary impressions and reactions to For Melancholy Brunettes (& unhappy girls)?
Kylie: My preliminary impression was that this was such a reasonably document. Sonically actually lovely and in some way each atmospheric and stripped again.
Adam: It’s positively a improvement on Jubilee. Not an evolution as such, however they’re 4 years down the highway, and so they’ve clearly been engaged on their craft rather a lot. I discover it simple to placed on and daydream to, which normally means it’s one thing good. There’s a giant wave of female-fronted bands proper now, whether or not in pop, storage rock, steel, or whatever-the-hell you wish to categorise Japanese Breakfast as, and as such the band are using the crest of a very talked-about wave.
It’s probably the most splendidly compact document. I don’t say this typically about albums, but it surely might have been a few tracks longer for certain. I can’t consider how a lot is packed into the half-hour run time, however on the identical time how delicate the preparations are. Typically I’ve been listening to For Melancholy Brunettes… and it solely appears like a couple of minutes earlier than Jeff Bridges pops up – However then I do know it’s almost over as a result of he’s on the eighth monitor!
Marc: It’s succinct. I completely love a brief and tighter document with a constant vibe all through, and Japanese Breakfast did precisely that with this piece. What’s much more surprising are the variety of mythological references and themes explored on the 32 minute album, from allusions to Venus to extra direct influences on tracks like “Leda.” After my first pay attention, what struck me probably the most was how totally different this album is sonically in comparison with their final mission. I like the general extra stripped again, acoustic, ethereal vibe that Japanese Breakfast went for on this one.
Hannah: It’s improbable, and never within the banal sense of the phrase. It has a dreamy high quality, immersing the listener into the realm of melancholy she is writing from with a beautiful, romantic lens. Crisp is one other phrase that involves thoughts, with the brevity of the document and with the altering of the season I’m coming to affiliate with it.
Josh: I simply listened to it this morning as I used to be driving to the college the place I work – my commute is roughly half an hour, and so is that this album, which makes it the proper size for such a journey. I’ll echo the constructive reward that my Atwood colleagues have already dished out, as that is a fascinating and instantly likable document. I’m glad it made a constructive first impression to me, and I sit up for dissecting it additional on repeat listens.
How does this album examine to 2021’s Jubilee – what are probably the most placing similarities or variations?
Kylie: This one feels extra stripped again and introspective to me. Jubilee felt like extra of a departure from the traditional indie-band sound, extra upbeat with some danceable tracks. For Melancholy Brunettes options much more acoustic devices and gentler preparations. Thematically, they’re whole opposites, which is true there on the album covers, with Jubilee that includes the brilliant yellow persimmons and For Melancholy Brunettes that includes moody shades of navy and a girl too depressed to eat the unfold in entrance of her.
Adam: I’d say Jubilee is primarily vocal-based, and the product of a band organically jamming. It’s direct, extra like a traditional hook-based pop document. Be Candy, for instance, is reduce straight from the ’80s, a track harking back to Fleetwood Mac. Whereas For Melancholy Brunettes… is denser, it has much less open areas and employs a bigger folks affect. The band are growing, and masking new floor – they’re extra textural on this document, and so they typically eliminate conventional track construction.
Listening again to Jubilee for this write-up, I used to be additionally struck by the cleaner manufacturing – Once more it sounds natural, like they’re within the room with you. Each instrument has its personal spot. In the meantime, For Melancholy Brunettes… has extra overdubs, extra occurring, extra melodies constructed on each other. It’s a busier sound.
Marc: Jubilee is brighter and feels extra snug characterised instead pop document. This new mission appears like watching a dimly lit room slowly retreat right into a comforting evening. I believe the most important variations, on a primary pay attention, are the distinctions in manufacturing between the 2 information. A few of the tracks off of Jubilee pull sounds from the ’80s and had extra of a dancy vibe to them, whereas For Melancholy Brunettes (& unhappy girls) undoubtedly feels extra folksy and acoustic. Zauner’s lyrics stay introspective, however the numerous references and nuances throughout the lyricism are capable of shine extra due to manufacturing that isn’t as busy as earlier releases.
Hannah: It appears like a pure counterpart to Jubilee, not too sharp a distinction between the sweetness Zauner finds in pleasure and the sweetness she finds in melancholy. In some methods it appears like a companion to Jubilee. Not fairly a sister album, however a sequel or prequel, relying on which means your temper is swinging.
Josh: I haven’t listened to Jubilee all over shortly, however I do not forget that it was a breezy and lighthearted pay attention. You may assume that might put it in distinction with an album named For Melancholy Brunettes (& unhappy girls), however I really discovered this new album to be significantly extra bright-spirited than its title would have you ever consider. Basically, I’ll say that these two albums share the impact of placing their listeners in temper, even when not all of those 10 new songs have the identical smile-inducing results as “Be Candy” did. I’ll need to (re)familiarize myself with each information with the intention to get deeper into what kind of profound thematic overlap they may share and all.
Japanese Breakfast teased For Melancholy Brunettes… with “Orlando in Love” and “Mega Circuit.” Are these singles devoted representations of the album?
Adam: In a means – Sure, completely. As a result of these are just about one of the best (in my view) songs on the document. However in one other means they aren’t, as a result of they don’t seem to be typical of the general sound of the album. Many of the songs are quieter, and sparse, with lighter percussion. If you wish to label an album as various as this, I’d say it’s overarching genres are indie-folk and different pop, which covers plenty of the document’s scope. However after all there’s far more occurring, so it’d be exhausting to pick anybody track as totally consultant. For Melancholy Brunettes… is one thing that must be listened to entrance to again. And you must, as a result of it’s not that lengthy!
Marc: I believe “Orlando in Love” is far more consultant than “Mega Circuit.” “Orlando in Love” is brimming with call-outs to literary works comparable to Orlando Innamorato, an epic poem from the Italian Renaissance, together with different references to myths that different tracks on the document mirror. Sonically, “Orlando in Love” additionally embodies this floaty and mild feeling the a lot of the tracks have as effectively. Whereas “Mega Circuit” isn’t a poor illustration (has a considerably comparable sounds & themes to tracks like “Image Window” & “Honey Water”), I really feel “Orlando in Love” is the extra apparent consultant as a complete.
Josh: Certain, they’re consultant of the overall sounds and scope that the remainder of the album achieves. They will not be clone copies of the opposite eight songs right here, however I wouldn’t need them to be, both – it could make for a reasonably monotonous document if that had been the case. The 2 singles are a worthy introduction to Japanese Breakfast’s newest work.
For Melancholy Brunettes… has been billed as an album that “examines the darker waves that roil inside.” Does this seize the spirit of those songs, and the place do you hear or really feel it most?
Adam: I like this, as a result of my first impressions weren’t of darkish lyrics – However while you’re a couple of listens in, these themes do come out. The music is an attention-grabbing cowl for the phrases, as a result of it’s so mild and melodic. For Melancholy Brunettes… is firmly rooted within the sounds of spring to me, and was fittingly subsequently launched in March. So it took a short time for these more difficult lyrical themes to accept me. However like plenty of different music on this style, subtlety is on the core of Japanese Breakfast’s conceptual world, and a few of the nuances move you by 4, 5, 6 occasions.
There’s rather a lot about loss on this album, which is sensible when you recognize concerning the private turmoil Michelle Zauner has been via the previous few years. That’s deftly expressed on “Orlando in Love,” as Zauner makes use of some deep cultural allegories to return to phrases together with her grief. I believe although, it’s additionally a really hopeful album, about being in a tragic place however seeing the sweetness in what you’ve bought – Maybe a supportive companion or a vibrant summer season’s day – And the potential in the place you’re going.
Marc: Certainly. There are definitely moments all through the album that don’t essentially really feel “darkish,” however the introspective stage of the lyricism, even on tracks that sound completely happy and light-weight (ex: Little Woman), enable for some impactfully somber moments. I believe the monitor the place I really feel this sense of darkness probably the most is on “Honey Water.” The aggressive guitar coupled with Zauner’s palpable frustration and give up to males’s shortcomings was improbable. The latter half of the track with the overdrawn, echoing instrumentals virtually felt like I used to be listening to an Ethel Cain track, and I believe that definitely speaks to the darkness that’s residing inside this document.
Josh: I agree with the others that the album doesn’t essentially really feel all that darkish and gloomy at first, however when you unpack the lyrics, a few of the extra somber themes emerge. An instance of that’s the track “Leda,” which, while you take heed to it fastidiously (plus get a little bit help from Genius.com), seems to be a couple of woman who’s remoted from her father and has by no means been capable of patch up her relationship with him.
Michelle Zauner has additionally spoken at size concerning the distinction between melancholy and unhappiness, to her: “I consider melancholy as a sort of anticipatory grief, one which comes from an acknowledgment of the passage of time, from the popularity of mortality and finitude. In a roundabout way, too, I believe it marks the artist’s situation, consistently observing via that lens.” What do you consider her evaluation?
Adam: That’s so succinctly poetic. “Anticipatory grief.” “Mortality and finitude.” What a lovely means with phrases. I’ve all the time seen melancholy as one thing else myself, maybe greatest described as a contented unhappiness; the final word ambivalence. I don’t assume you’ll be able to argue although with what she’s saying right here. I do assume melancholy is a core a part of any given artist’s day-to-day, I do assume it’s about mortality, whether or not totally cognised on the time or not. It’s about being current along with your happiness, however being unhappy concurrently you recognize it received’t final. I can inform Zauner and the band have tried to seize that feeling all through their profession.
Marc: What a terrific means of characterizing the attitude of artists at massive. I couldn’t agree extra with Zauner’s examination of melancholy, particularly within the context of art-making. Whether or not it’s a track, a novel, a panorama portray, or no matter it might be, artists are definitely their creations via the lens of “finitude” and the way that in the end makes the artwork extra significant, tragic, transcendent, and so forth. This sense of “anticipatory grief” is one thing that I sense throughout this document.
Hannah: Zauner is extremely clever and her artwork, her lyricism above all, is a mirrored image of that. I really like the concept that melancholy is anticipatory grief, that feels very true to my expertise. I agree together with her evaluation that this melancholic lens is a part of the artist’s situation, to witness and translate our humanity, all the time throughout the context of an impending finish. Artwork is greedy at moments, scenes, fleeting emotions, to protect throughout the slippery passage time. It may be a strong act of company to create artwork as a rebel to our personal mortality, to create one thing regardless of dying, however I believe it extra typically comes from a spot of powerlessness. It’s a determined impulse to create, and so human. The album is run via with this anticipatory grief.
Josh: Fascinating. I wouldn’t have initially thought that there’d be a lot of a distinction between the phrases “melancholy” and “grief,” and that they might be used interchangeably. However hey, if Michelle Zauner is keen to go to such nice lengths to elaborate on the excellence in her work, and likewise use her private definition of “melancholy” because the spine to a few of her songwriting, who am I to face in her means?
Which track(s) stand out for you on the album, and why?
Adam: I’m actually into that headswimming guitar wall on “Honey Water,” that hit me right away. It’s nothing like the remainder of the album and actually stands out. It’s an enormous indie rock sound that lingers. And the track, it’s concerning the complexities of a critical relationship, how issues aren’t “happily-ever-after” and that there’s plenty of unhappiness concerned, however she’s accepting of the unhappiness and grows into it. On the finish of the track, Zauner repeatedly whispers “So it goes/I don’t thoughts” sounding euphoric and listless on the identical time, once more illustrating that ambivalence on the coronary heart of her craft.
Marc: The 2 that I can’t cease listening to are “Honey Water” and “Image Window.” “Honey Water” was a punk-adjacent monitor that I wasn’t actually anticipating, and the final half of the monitor with the booming guitar actually packs a punch that I believe this album wanted. The lyrical content material in “Honey Water” is gorgeous as effectively.
As for “Image Window,” I believe that monitor has some attention-grabbing components of rock to it and there are some twang-country influences that I believe add a ton of depth. The lyrics are the sort that I’ll revisit and derive new which means from with every pay attention.
Hannah: The track that caught out to me is “Males in Bars” with Jeff Bridges. After I first heard it, I used to be shocked by the twangy sound and by this random man’s voice. I benefit from the lyrics and the sound, however I don’t like Jeff Bridges in it. Perhaps it’ll develop on me over time, however each time it comes on I combat the urge to skip it. “Image Window,” nonetheless, has grow to be my new favourite track from Japanese Breakfast.
Josh: I’ll have to provide it a couple of extra listens earlier than I can determine which track or two are my favorites, however I do like all those everybody else has listed up to now. It’s a reasonably mild album for probably the most half, so the upbeat guitar enjoying on “Honey Water” helps to make that one a standout for me, for certain.
Do you might have any favourite lyrics to date? Which strains stand out?
Kylie: A harsh lyric set in opposition to lovely, mild instrumentation all the time will get me. Just a few that basically stood out to me had been “Pissing within the nook of the lodge suite,” in “Little Woman,” and “plotting blood along with your incel eunuchs” and “sucked you off by the AC items” in “Mega Circuit.” “Little Woman,” particularly, is such a reasonably track, with fingerpicking on nylon guitar strings and a heartbreaking string part within the refrain.
Adam: I discover the primary verse in Mega Circuit significantly placing – In a track about poisonous masculinity, Zauner units a sometimes manly scene – “Barreling ’around the mega circuit/Kicking mud off ATVs” then makes a pointy flip into the misogyny of the Manosphere – “Plotting blood along with your incel eunuchs” earlier than providing a hand in friendship to those troubled younger males “I might be the house you want.” The best way she covers a lot with so little in these phrases is the core of her songwriting. It’s additionally fairly a conflicting place to take – Although she’s confronting a nasty little world, Zauner is attempting to soften away the hate with kindness.
The ultimate two strains are a neat abstract of the core beliefs of that motion – “Deep within the gentle hearts of younger boys so pissed off and jaded/Carrying uninteresting prayers of outdated males slicing holier truths”. It’s not what the principle thrust of the album is about, however I picked this track as a result of – Other than the infectious swing groove all through which makes it a musical spotlight of the album – It represents one thing Zauner does effectively, which is paint a vibrant image of an advanced topic with only a few phrases.
Marc: It’s virtually exhausting to select a few of my favourite lyrics; Zauner is so extremely proficient together with her phrases. “Honey Water” instantly involves thoughts with, “The lure of honey water attracts you from my arms so needy / You comply with in colonies to sip it from the financial institution / In rapturous candy temptation, you wade in previous the sting and sink in / Insatiable for a nectar, consuming ‘til your coronary heart expires.” What a lovely means of articulating a person’s endless thirst for a recent sip of “honey water.” It appears to behave as a metaphor for males in search of out new, thrilling, even perhaps mild lovers, ones that can passively enable them to suck them dry of all their sweetness.
The ending verse of “Leda” can also be lovely; I’m a sucker for these connection to mythos, “The ocean in view, I’m considering of all of the Grecian Gods / The boys all of them performed to get what they need / A crashing of waves, a sculpture of Leda and the Swan / You wait, you wait, you wait.” Evaluating Zauner’s personal experiences with being on the whim of different males via the comparability of Leda and the Swan was genius and heartbreaking. With out writing a complete thesis, the poem by William Butler Yeats is predicated on the Greek fantasy the place Zeus disguises himself as a swan and violates Leda, the queen of Sparta. Connections like these not solely showcase Zauner’s creativity and creative genius, but additionally helps to strengthen an already powerfully darkish examination of devious lovers mendacity in wait.
Hannah: The road that I can’t cease singing is “all of my ghosts are actual” from “Image Window,” which is unlucky for everybody round me as a result of I’m not hitting that observe. However one of the best lyrics in the entire document are from “Mega Circuit”: “Deep within the gentle hearts of younger boys/ so pissed off and jaded/ carrying uninteresting prayers of outdated males/ slicing holier truths.” Particularly resonant beneath this administration. The strains that encapsulate the album to me, nonetheless, are from “Winter in LA”: “I want you had a happier girl / one that might go away the home.” It’s such a robust hook, actually propels you into the track.
Josh: Since I’ve simply been educating World Battle I in my historical past class, I’m a fan of the songwriting on “Magic Mountain,” which takes its title from the Thomas Mann novel that explores the buildup to this historic interval. “As soon as the fever subsides, I’ll return to the flatlands a brand new man” is a line that displays the novel’s plot of the principle character, Hans Castorp, staying by his cousin’s aspect and never returning house till his tuberculosis has been cured. By the way, it additionally speaks to a theme that For Melancholy Brunettes (& unhappy girls) dips into repeatedly, which is how folks in the end will discover methods to maneuver on from durations of grievance. It’s an encouraging thought, and it’s good to complete listening to the album with such imagery in your thoughts.
The place do you’re feeling For Melancholy Brunettes (& unhappy girls) sits within the pantheon of Japanese Breakfast’s discography?
Kylie Gurewitz: I positively assume it’s a departure. It appears like Michelle Zauner is having enjoyable exploring the concepts she’s all for, from Greek mythology to Italian poetry to incel tradition. It’s an album about unhappiness, but it surely doesn’t take unhappiness too critically (see the music video for “Orlando in Love.”) It appears like a becoming subsequent album after Jubilee, an examination of the alternative emotion however knowledgeable by that joyous perspective.
Adam: I’ve solely heard their final two information, however this must be seen as a triumph. They’re carving out a particular nook in a style bristling with expertise and promise, which isn’t that simple. It’s a fragile mix of many types, all of which appear to return naturally to Japanese Breakfast. It’s not deliberate, like “right here’s a track that appears like Taylor Swift, right here’s our hip-hop track, right here’s a punky one.” It simply comes out as a matter after all. Which is clearly very cool!
Marc: It’s definitely a brand new path for Japanese Breakfast, and one which I gladly welcome. This document appears like a lot love, ache, and cautious thought went into it, from the literary references to the best way the tracks themselves are organized. It’s not likely like every document that I’ve heard previously yr. Zauner caught to her creative imaginative and prescient relatively than attempting to fall according to what’s well-liked within the music panorama. I hope this document will get the eye it deserves, I believe it’s an unimaginable creative achievement.
Josh: I’ve additionally solely heard their final two albums. It looks as if those earlier than that didn’t handle to dent the charts a lot (not that I’m against checking them out on Spotify!). I’ll say that I preferred For Melancholy Brunettes (& unhappy girls) about as a lot as I preferred Jubilee, and it’s good to see that Japanese Breakfast is ready to obtain that often-elusive high quality within the music trade: consistency.
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“Image Window” – Japanese Breakfast
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For Melancholy Brunettes (& unhappy girls)
an album by Japanese Breakfast
