Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee
Indie Rock – Released June 4, 2021 – 10 songs, 37 mins
LUNDI’s album drop:
I have been tucking away albums to listen to for a while and trying my best to avoid them for purposes of TSR. Turns out one band who I had saved just released a new album last Friday. I have n ot read anything beyond a high level score but both albums are labeled as having ‘universal acclaim’ by Metacritic. Since we’re focused on new music though we’re going to go with the latest release and see if TSR agrees. This week’s selection is Jubilee by Japanese Breakfast.
REID
Another new artist to dig into for this guy! I love it. Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner has an interesting story. Born in South Korea, the daughter of a Korean mother and Jewish-American father, she moved to Oregon as an infant before eventually residing in Philadelphia. Michelle played in several indie rock bands before moving back to Oregon in 2013 to care for her mother, who had been diagnosed with cancer. During this time, she started Japanese Breakfast as a solo project, writing a song-a-day challenge ultimately leading to the release of some records.
Yesterday in our group chat I told the boys I was very curious to hear their reviews on this one and with the language I used, both concluded my review would be negative. They know me well but this time they’re both wrong because I think this album and Michelle in particular, are brilliant. She offers so much in these 37-minutes. I feel I could provide commentary on just about each track but I’ll stick to a few of my favourites. Kokono, IN is such a beautiful ‘I miss you’ song, presumably about her mother, who she eventually lost to her illness. The first appearance of the strings at 0:50 mins really does it for me. Slide Tackle has such great pace and feeling. What song do I want to hear live? Posing in Bondage. Crank the volume and tell me how incredible this would be with the sun setting and crowd interaction. Mmmm JB at Coachella 2022? On a more serious and intimate note, In Hell, really hits hard. Another one presumably about her mother’s cancer experience. Having lost my father to cancer in May 2020, I can unfortunately relate to this heartbreak. ‘With my luck you’ll be dead in a year, I’ve come to expect it. There’s nothing left to fear, at least there’s that’. Man, heavy. And real. I could write a blog about this one alone. The song has somewhat of an upbeat tone as well, which is confusing to the listener and reminds me of Kyoto by Phoebe Bridgers. Whether or not she meant it this way, I choose to view it as having to navigate life as if everything is normal. Go to work every day and out with friends with a smile on your face even though your reality is crippling sadness. Phew. Moving along to Tactics, my favourite. Her voice, the lyrics, the strings, the drumming just mixes incredibly. She wraps things up with another memorable one, Posing for Cars. It opens at almost a snail-like pace, with a strumming guitar, slowly building and evolving around the 2:30 mark and again at 2:59 into something I can only describe as a sound that gives me a ‘warm’ feeling.
What more can I say? I’m a big fan of this album and think Michelle Zauner is a musical genius. Jubilee is lyrically and musically complex. Shout out to Lundi for this choice, I’ll absolutely be listening to older stuff from Japanese Breakfast.
Overall Rating – 8.8/10
Favourite Song – Tactics
ROZ
There are three things I enjoy in this world: good music, delicious food, and obscure band names - Japanese Breakfast, ladies and gentlemen, hitting me with the ultimate three punch combo.
Right out of the gate, I can say that I really, really like the lead singer's voice. In particular, Kokoko, IN was damn majestic. The way her vocals are washed out and drenched in reverb give the track a very soothing quality that I really enjoyed during a particularly stressful week. Slide Tackle had me grooving in my seat with it’s 4 on the floor drum pattern, sizzling hi hats and snappy snare. Posing in Bondage slowed it down and really displayed the range of the sonic elements this band uses. The background effects and sound selection really gave a spacey ambient quality that I thought was executed very well. Savage Good Boy ended up being my favorite overall (I’m a sucker for a tasty bass lick), and Posing For Cars’ gentle acoustic picking made for a fantastic closer as well - topped off with a wailing guitar solo, it served as the ultimate punctuation mark to Jubilee.
This album definitely had an “art pop” quality to it, which I was very much into. I haven’t listened to Japanese Breakfast before so after this I will definitely be exploring their earlier works to find out if this is a diamond in the rough or if they really are the real deal. To summarize, this band is super talented and I enjoyed the album immensely. It had upbeat groovy parts, it had slower melodic parts, and it ended with a dope guitar solo - what more could you ask for.
Overall Rating – 8.4/10
Favourite Song – Savage Good Boy
LUNDI
It’s J-Brekkie season (or so the kids say). Lead by another do-it-all artist (author, song writer, producer, actor) Japanese Breakfast have quickly become a darling of the music scene loved by critics and music enthusiasts alike.
Jubilee, which is most often used in describing a celebration, fits perfectly for the title of this album. JB have put together an eclectic album of styles that’s no better described than experimental pop and it’s final form is a perfect reason for music fans to celebrate.
The album has a wide range of influences and styles, ranging from an 80’s inspired “Be Sweet”, to the XX like lo-fi pop “Posing in Bondage”, to a War on Drugs extended alt rock outro on “Posing for Cars.” There’s so much here that rewards the ear on multiple listens. The simple short guitar riffs, jazz elements, and synthesizers subtlety woven into each track are perfected at each turn.
The instrumentals of this album are not the only wide ranging element as the lyrical approach starts out with an enthusiastic outlook but quickly turns to darkness of a tortured artist, particularly on “In Hell.” The slow down and darkened ending take away from the overall impact of the album but it’s still executed with fine precision.
Overall this is an excellent album. I’ll be listening to it for a long time and I’m excited to see what other J Brekkie is out there to explore. It’s some of the best new music I’ve heard and it’s a highly recommended album for any readers.
Overall Rating – 8.8/10
Favourite Song – Slide Tackle