The pandemic has in no way cramped the artistic output from Michelle Zauner, the lead singer and brains behind Philly’s own Japanese Breakfast. Near summer’s end, she released a joint EP with Ryan Galloway under the moniker BUMPER. April of this coming year will see the release of her memoir, titled Crying in H Mart. And the very latest news from Zauner is fresh Japanese Breakfast material, something fans have been desperately craving since the band’s last full length effort, 2017’s Soft Sounds from another Planet.
Japanese Breakfast’s third album, titled Jubilee, will be released June 4th via the independent record label Dead Oceans. What can the Japanese Breakfast faithful expect from this project? “For me, a third record should feel bombastic and so I wanted to pull out all the stops for this one.” said Zauner. When asked about her creative process behind the new record she also mentioned “I wanted to push it as far as it could go, inviting more people in and pushing myself as a composer, a producer, an arranger.”
The result may just be the band’s most experimental work yet, with Zauner tinkering with new sounds and instruments along the way. A new song from the record, “Be Sweet”, along with an accompanying video, has already been released. In the music video, Zauner and Mannequin Pussy’s Missy play the roles of special agents investigating paranormal activity.
“Be Sweet” features an incredibly infectious chorus that’s hard not to sing along with even after just one listen. This is a positive sign for the possible shape the rest of the album will take. “After spending the last five years writing about grief, I wanted our follow up to be about joy” said Zauner. Japanese Breakfast nail that feeling here and we’ll see if the rest of the album delivers on that promise in June.
For an overview of Japanese Breakfast’s previously released material, check here!
