By Grace Koennecke, Managing Editor

[Dead Oceans; 2025]

Key Tracks: “Here is Someone,” “Honey Water,” “Picture Window”

After making 2021’s Jubilee – a record that saw Japanese Breakfast steer into unwatered territory with alt-pop influences with songs like “Be Sweet” and “Savage Good Boy” – frontwoman Michelle Zauner felt the immense pressures that come with success and becoming more mainstream. Nominated for two Grammy Awards the following year and reaching No.1 on The New York Times Best Seller list for her memoir Crying in H Mart, Zauner and her band had to take a step back from it all, with Zauner moving to Seoul to take time off and write.

However, the time off was beneficial, as the band was able to recenter and Zauner could return to form with what she liked writing about. Instead of creating another album centered around joy, which is in no way a bad theme to write and sing about, Japanese Breakfast wanted to turn its perspective outwards, relying more so at times on fictional worlds and situations dipped in melancholy, hence this album’s title, For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women). 

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“Here is Someone” transports one into an ethereal state, with beautifully layered strings and orchestral instruments accompanying Zauner’s soft vocals. It’s a great opening to the album, and even if a little slow, it doesn’t rush through the premise of the song, which exposes listeners to Zauner’s thoughts on turning away from music and living a quieter life. She sings, “Quietly dreaming of slower days / But I don’t want to let you down / We’ve come so far / Can you see a life where we leave all of this behind?” – and these lyrics’ tone suggest that music may not be the major source of happiness in the band’s life anymore, especially during a time of political tension.

The following track, “Orlando in Love,” served as the first lead single for the album, with Zauner referencing Virginia Woolf’s novel, Orlando: A Biography. The fictional tale follows the protagonist Orlando who transforms from male to female, living for centuries. The song also references the poem Orlando Innamorato by Matteo Maria Boiardo, which Zauner sings about in the opening lines of the song: “Orlando in love / Writes 69 cantos / For melancholy brunettes and sad women.” While not initially my favorite lead single from Japanese Breakfast, it’s grown on me because it fits well with the overall narrative of this album and showcases Zauner’s unique storytelling abilities that have made her such a beloved writer.

An automatic standout is “Honey Water,” which is the longest track on the album at four minutes and 50 seconds. Zauner creates a fictional toxic relationship, told from the perspective of a wife dealing with infidelity. Frustrated and confused why they cannot be loved correctly, Zauner’s lyrics capture the emotional distress that comes with disloyalty: “Why can’t you be faithful? / Why won’t you believe? / They say only love can change a man / But all that changes is me.” One of the more rock-influenced songs on the album, it provides listeners with a steady change in pace provided by the strumming of a mandolin and grunge synth production.

Sadly, this album loses a lot of momentum following this track, as it attempts to become more intimate and quiet in sound. However, this artistic choice causes Japanese Breakfast to lose the magic that was found in the middle sections of their previous albums, at times waiting to hit another high point in For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women). Songs like “Mega Circuit” and “Little Girl” contain personal and creative writing prompts for Zauner to expand upon, but lack energy overall and cause the band to back away from the experimentation that was clear in “Honey Water.”

Another track that simply doesn’t work on this album is the unexpected collaboration with actor Jeff Bridges on “Men in Bars.” A possible tie to “Honey Water” and its storyline, Zauner and Bridges play the roles of two lovers that have both been unfaithful. With lines that are meant to be emotionally charged like – “And who am I to leave behind? We built this / And even when it falls apart, it’s ours / But who could say that I’m to blame for wandering?” – it’s evident this was supposed to be a passionate ballad, but Bridges’ vocals are so weak compared to Zauner that it fails to add any substance to the tracklist.

Thankfully, “Picture Window” revives the album completely and is a country-rock song that is new territory for Japanese Breakfast as well. Sung from the perspective of a relationship plagued by toxic masculinity, Zauner’s narrator of an optimistic lover is haunting as she repeats the lines, “All of my ghosts are real / All of my ghosts are my home.” These lines suggest that the narrator is trying to live her life to the fullest, and that her partner is struggling to open up and live authentically like her because of his fears of not fitting in: “Keeps his mouth shut / Keeps his mind fixed and well hidden / You dream enough for two, dear.”

“Winter in LA” is the only other likable song on this album, as Zauner’s vocals are freeing and the production incorporates jazz and pop influences. A reference to the album’s title, Zauner sings about being viewed incorrectly, typically as a woman who is always sad. Reflecting on the way men view women when they are emotional, Zauner wonders if she presented herself as a happier person if she would be loved and respected more. In all, it’s an interesting conversation on the album about gender dynamics and norms and the little acts of sexism that infiltrate daily life between men and women.

For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) at times is an underwhelming body of work that loses some the magical whimsy found on Jubilee, with the volume turned down and the band’s energy depleted. Although, its high points are crucial to hear, proving that experimentation is still present in Japanese Breakfast. Overall, it’s a meek, simple album that doesn’t leave much of an impression, with its downfalls lying in a lack of direction.

Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/album/4qqdOkr3Ff3kN8GxoxvRES?si=p0P929u-TD-MVT0dz9dZEA