Japanese Breakfast Returns with Jubilee, One of the Most Anticipated Albums of the Year

Michelle Zauner continues to evolve her indie-pop sound

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When I came across Tropical Jinx, the second album by the Philly emo band Little Big League in 2014, I was hooked.

The band had a 90s fuzzed-out throwback sound, but it was singer and guitarist Michelle Zauner that caught my attention. Buried under the layers of feedback was a voice that set them apart from the other bands kicking around in the same scene.

A lot has been written about Zauner’s next few years, as she left Philly and the band to return to Eugene, Oregon, to take care of her mother, who had recently been diagnosed with cancer. During this period, Zauner began recording solo material under the Japanese Breakfast moniker.

Following her mother’s death, Zauner released Japanese Breakfast’s debut album, Psychopomp, a piece of dream-pop perfection. Contrasting grief-filled lyrics with bright melodies, it’s one of the best introductions by a band in the last five years. Songs like “Everybody Wants to Love You” and “Heft” keep me coming back to Psychopomp regularly, even after hearing it hundreds of times.

In 2017, Zauner quickly followed up with Soft Sounds from Another Planet. While I didn’t connect with it immediately, Soft Sounds showed how far Zauner had come in a few short years. For example, check out the original version of “Boyish” by Little Big League, and compare it to the performance on Soft Sounds.

After a ton of touring, Japanese Breakfast cooled off while Zauner wrote a book and worked on a follow-up album. (Don’t miss the synthpop deliciousness of pop songs 2020, an EP that Zauner released with Ryan Galloway of Crying, under the name BUMPER).

With the book finished and debuting at number two on The New York Times best-seller list in April (along with a fresh movie adaptation deal), Japanese Breakfast is back with Jubilee, a joyous album with a fitting title.

Following two records filled with mourning, Zauner explained:

“After spending the last five years writing about grief, I wanted our follow-up to be about joy. For me, a third record should feel bombastic, and so I wanted to pull out all the stops for this one.”

On the opener, “Paprika,” the air fills with a parade atmosphere as horns and marching drums lead the way. While leveling up in her popularity, Zauner questions, “how’s it feel to stand at the height of your powers, to captivate every heart? Projecting your visions to strangers who feel it, who listen, who linger on every word, oh, it’s a rush.”

“Be Sweet” is Jubilee’s lead single, a song co-written with Jack Tatum of Wild Nothing. Anyone familiar with Tatum’s work will instantly recognize the catchy chorus guitar and bopping basslines under waves of retro synths, and it’s one of the best songs of the year.

Things slow down with “Kokomo, IN,” a sleepy ode to the sometimes nothingness of small towns. One can hear the crickets on a dusky old porch as Zauner finds herself “passing time just popping wheelies, and kicking round this flyover state.”

There are moments when Zauner appears to be on autopilot, but her growth as an artist lifts the songs to new levels. For example, “Slide Tackle” is a number about battling the mind that starts out sounding like something off of Soft Sounds, but the savory bassline and sultry sax work make it a piece that is appreciated with multiple listens. “Sit” is a similar situation, but it’s hard not to resist its static-y waves and timpani drums.

Another highlight is the woozy “Savage Good Boy,” a song that struggles with the greed that can come with prioritizing personal joys. Zauner has a history of sci-fi-inspired songs, and with “Savage Good Boy,” one can’t help but think of the space boy fantasies of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk while they wreck the planet they inhabit.

Jubilee is billed as a celebration, but the last three tracks find Zauner longing for someone who isn’t there. “Tactics,” in particular, is a lush ballad that uses strings and a Rhodes piano to pull on the heartstrings. Then, while closing out the record with “Posing For Cars,” Zauner explores the sacrifices a person makes to experience long-term happiness.

Japanese Breakfast is most definitely Michelle Zauner’s project. Still, Jubilee is a group effort, and no one else is more important to the album’s sound than the band’s drummer and producer, Craig Hendrix. Hendrix, who has worked with Zauner since Tropical Jinx, takes the patented Japanese Breakfast sound and allows it to blossom into new territory. While Hendrix focuses solely on the drums live, with Jubilee, he has stepped out from behind the kit, offering a hand at guitars, bass, synths, and even arranging the strings and horns throughout the record.

Michelle Zauner’s journey may be full of grief and heartbreak, but she finds herself in a special place to help others process life’s more brutal moments. With Jubilee, she’s taken a considerable step in maturing her sound while exploring other genres.

On the quest for joy, I’m looking forward to seeing how the record translates live while seeing them in October.

Jubilee is available now on Dead Oceans.

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