Japanese Breakfast's For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) Album Review

Coming from their hit and highly praised album Jubilee, Japanese Breakfast had some pretty big shoes to fill. Arguably, that 2021 album put them on the map. It was poppy, bubbly, and flirty–basking in a symphony of brightness. Looking at Japanese Breakfast’s discography, they often switch directions between each album. Their debut Psychopomp had a fuzzy, Alvvays vibe, while Soft Sounds From Another Planet was more introspective and synthy. It keeps the listener on their toes but always reflects Michelle Zauner’s (the creative force behind Japanese Breakfast) air at the time.

For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) is a homecoming. Although it is melancholy, it basks in this feeling. It's stepping into an impressionist painting, it’s looking out your window, it's a lost soundtrack to a movie full of pastels and soft touches.

There always seems to be an aspect of memorial and celebration woven throughout Japanese Breakfast’s musical history. Psychopomp features Zauner’s mom on the cover, while her literary debut Crying In H Mart detailed Zauner’s life and their relationship. Songs like “This House,” “Everybody Wants To Love You,” “Boyish,” “Till Death,” and “Little Girl” mix these themes of promises, memorials, remembering, celebration, and longing. It’s this really intricate web of tracks, albums, lyrics, and feelings that Zauner spins so beautifully.

For Melancholy Brunettes ( & Sad Women) hones in on the root behind all of these emotions. It feels like getting to the base of their sound. It’s stripped and raw, lifting the curtain on all those internal feelings. At the same time, Zauner goes outside herself, examining different aspects of this melancholic feeling through different places and moments. In their press release, Zauner explains, “I wanted this album to capture the moments where that knife slips. When people want too much, when they cede to temptation, when they are seduced and punished.” I’ll tell you when I read that I took a step back and read it again. And again.

“Here is Someone” opens the album with a chorus of delicate strings, opening the curtain to this album. It peaks out looking around the corner. Each song easily flows into the other making its 32 minute run time feel like 15. “Here is Someone” feels like an artist lifting their brush and making that first stroke. It’s delicate, laying the groundwork for this album. They go into the steady “Orlando in Love,” followed by my favorite on the album, “Honey Water.”

“Honey Water” is the perfect sequel to “The Woman That Loves You.” “Honey Water” opens with a classic Jbrekkie sound and “Why can’t you be faithful.” Complementing “The Woman That Loves You”’s “You’re embarrassing me.” “Honey Water” feels like putting your head down in exasperation. Feeling someone slip from your fingers just for a little bit of honey. It lures you and puts you back down in the corner. “So it goes/I don’t mind.”

They keep up the tempo on “Mega Circuit” and examine father and daughter in “Little Girl.” In a crazy twist, Jeff Bridges sings on “Men In Bars” with Zauner. If this track is sounding familiar it’s because it’s a remake of “Ballad 0,” a song recorded at Electric Lady Studios. I love this version. I think it brings a different perspective. It feels like a crazy cocktail and a date that’s going so bad it has you wishing someone else was on the other side of the table. “I never knew I’d wind up here to take up arms/With men in bars.”

“Magic Mountain” closes the album with soft strings and lyrics weaving a story that I can imagine on a tapestry or fresco. For Melancholy Brunettes ( & Sad Women) is this collection of stories and emotions that lie on the shelf of your childhood home. Opening them creates a world that you could only dream of–one of mermaids, bubbles, kings, queens, and men in bars.