Spring is in the air, the weather is getting warmer, vaccination rates are climbing, tours are being announced: there’s a lot to be hopeful for right now. And as the bumper crop of albums listed below attests, there’s a ton of great music awaiting our ears just around the corner. Artists like Taylor Swift, J Balvin, including new releases to in the coming months, from Dawn Richard, Iceage, Olivia Rodrigo, and others. Japanese Breakfast being among them.
Japanese Breakfast On Her ‘Tonight Show’ Debut
Nearly four years since releasing her hit “Jimmy Fallon Big”, Japanese Breakfast tells ET Canada’s Cheryl Hickey about finally joining Fallon on “The Tonight Show” where she performed the track. Plus, she opens up about her upcoming third studio album Jubilee.
Into the light with Japanese Breakfast
“I wanted to write about joy.” This statement was at the heart of the topic during our recent interview with Japanese Breakfast’s singer-songwriter Michelle Zauner.
“The theme of the new album is joy, and the title is ‘Jubilee’ which is like this biblical year of release,” exclaimed Zauner. “In my head I just saw this yellow image (and) lots of warm tones for the next record. And I think it was just a natural sort of progression coming from a really dark material and I just wanted to do something unexpected and write about joy.”
The first single titled “Be Sweet” is a sonic representation of Zauner’s current mindset. Upbeat, melodic and seeming to burst with colors. This song is about forgiveness as she sings: ‘I wanna believe in something / so come and get your woman / pacify her rage / take the time to undo your lies / make it up once more with feeling / recognize your mistake and I’ll let you back in.’” In the chorus she sings in a high ebullient voice: ‘be sweet to me baby /I wanna believe in you.’
Asked whether this is a conscious tweak from her previous efforts, the Korean-American musician answered, “absolutely!”
“It’s been four years since (the last) and we finished the (new) record in 2019 and it has been 3 years but I feel like I’ve learned so much as a composer and as producer. It’s a way more mature sounding record. It’s also ambitious. For the first time I felt confident to try to do string and brass arrangements. There’s a lot more instrumentation and I think the sound are much bigger.”
“The hope is that by the fall or the late summer we might be able to tour again because of the vaccinations. At this point I’m just so excited to let go (of the album) and move along because it was supposed to have come out last year actually, but because of the pandemic, we thought it would be better to push it a year. (Now) It feels like It could really be a good time for this record to come out because it’s all about, feeling again and like a real release of emotions, experiencing joy again. And I think it’s really in line with all these themes hopefully.’
“I guess all I would really say is that I miss them. We had such a good time at Summer Noise (fest in Manila) can’t wait to come back. It holds a special place in my heart. And I really hope that next year we can come back again. Stay safe, stay healthy. And I hope you guys take care.”
