For Michelle Zauner, it had to be hard coming down from the high she was on following Japanese Breakfast’s breakthrough album Jubilee (2021) and bestselling memoir Crying in H Mart, released that same year. While both were acclaimed triumphs, fans were less surprised by Jubilee’s success than that of her tender and heartbreaking story.
Everything suggested Japanese Breakfast would make it big sooner than later (as foreshadowed by their song “Jimmy Fallon Big!”). Psychopomp (2016), the ephemeral bedroom pop debut, offered a preview of Zauner’s talents, whereas Soft Sounds From Another Planet (2017) zoomed out in scope and explored dream pop and shoegaze sounds yet still kept things approachable. For my money, Soft Sounds cannot be matched, but Jubilee took the stakes higher and included career-defining standouts.
Jubilee was nominated for the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album and won the Libera for Record of the Year, which capped off a phenomenal run. Reflecting upon her success, Zauner said, “I felt seduced by getting what I always wanted. I was flying too close to the sun, and I realized that if I kept going, I was going to die.” The question remained: where would Japanese Breakfast go from here?
Surprising to most, For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) is actually the band’s first proper studio release, as previous efforts were recorded in different places and pieced together. The record was produced by the renowned Blake Mills and tracked at the famed Sound City in Los Angeles. Despite the label’s significant investments, Zauner pulled back, foregoing any temptation to make another big splash. Conceptually, Japanese Breakfast were inspired by artwork from another century, yet those pieces do not manifest themselves in the music, even if many songs on the record resonate nonetheless.
The album’s hushed tone comes to the fore on the sub-two-and-a-half minute single, “Orlando in Love”, featuring lyrics referenced in the album title. The track will be remembered more for its brevity and for what it’s not (namely, anything that came before) than for its serene strings and sublime vocals, which do glimmer upon repeated listens. The decision to lead with “Orlando in Love” meant Zauner and company declined the opportunity for greater stardom, at least the kind associated with the crossover pop that Zauner flirted with on the last go-around.
If moments on the track feel like floating downriver surrounded by an idyllic landscape, Japanese Breakfast have plenty more in store for those who seek solace in a different time. European Romanticism, with all its passion and complexity, served as the album’s primary reference point, as Zauner found inspiration in Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë and artwork by Degas and Caspar David Friedrich. Specific themes can be hard to pinpoint, but the effect is an overarching sense of melancholy tied to humankind’s search for beauty and the sublime, a preoccupation commended during that era.
It’s hard not to compare Japanese Breakfast to Dead Oceans’ labelmate Mitski, especially when Zauner finds herself on a similar path, just a few years removed. Mitski earned near-universal acclaim on Be the Cowboy (2018) by incorporating characters and sounds bigger than herself, only to come back to earth with a simpler concept on her next record (albeit dark and brooding in her case). Where Mitski retreated to the industrial sounds of the 1980s, Zauner turned to the elemental nature of her craft, music being art first and foremost. By doing so, the hushed arrangements and tranquil orchestration tell a tale all their own, even if stories still ground her work.
For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) is multifaceted despite the anti-Jubilee tagline. Some highlights include the minor chord shuffle “Mega Circuit”, the jaunty “Picture Window, and the orchestral nightclub ballad “Winter in LA”. One challenge is the album proves as varied as the influences that gave rise to it. Although beautifully arranged, “Leda” and “Magic Mountain” drag along at a sullen pace.
Unfortunately, the record will likely be remembered for those mopey moments and not for Zauner’s usual cheeky banter, which takes the form of drunken escapades (“Pissing in the corner of a hotel suite / Do you always remember where you are?”) and sexual exploits (“Sucked you off by the AC unity / Caught your breath while the evening steeped”).
Certain tracks on For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) trod well-worn themes. The most prominent sounds can be found in the buoyant and atmospheric “Honey Water”, where the singer denounces an unfaithful partner: “The lure of honey water draws you from my arms so needy / You follow in colonies to sip it from the bank”. Assuming Japanese Breakfast had grander ambitions, it could have been the record’s emotional center. “Men In Bars”, a sad duet with none other than Jeff Bridges, also deals with infidelity but ends in the tragic way of Westerns, where the spurned lover is forced to take up arms.
For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) is hard to pin down. Zauner reflects upon the fleeting nature of beauty, where epochs seem transitory, and art offers the only sense of permanence. That reading is especially relevant knowing she receded from the spotlight after narrowly avoiding Icarus’ fate. Deeper listens reveal that the album is no less complex than what came before it (and arguably more so). While some may posit the album is contemplative, it can get slumbrous at times, which softens the impact. Japanese Breakfast still offer plenty of quality to stay relevant while silencing the fanfare.