Latest news with #SadWomen
Sydney Morning Herald
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Japanese Breakfast beats Melbourne cold with warm presence and irresistible performance
MUSIC | Rising Festival Japanese Breakfast ★★★★ PICA, June 5 'It's so cold here! What's going on?' says Michelle Zauner, driving force behind indie darlings Japanese Breakfast. Yes, it's cold in Melbourne right now, and especially in PICA, a big empty shed in Port Melbourne with uneven concrete floors and unlit portaloos. Everyone's wearing massive coats and basking in our collective body heat, while cursing our friends at the Jessica Pratt show in the warm, acoustically luxuriant recital hall. But I'm at a Japanese Breakfast show and thrilled about it. It's been eight years since they last visited, and since then they've put out the breakthrough hit album Jubilee and this year's literate, almost baroque For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women), and Zauner has written a bestselling memoir, Crying in H Mart. She writes songs dense with emotion and pathos, and performs them irresistibly. The six-piece opens with three songs from the new album, all dripping with Zauner's great lyrics and the band's rich instrumentation. She's in a frilly shirt and torn tights. Saxophone dances with flute as the lights play with the stage smoke. 'The breeze carries salt / And sipping milky broth / He cast his gaze towards the sea out / The Winnebago,' she sings on Orlando in Love. It's dreamlike. The sound bounces around indie genres. Honey Water leans into shoegaze. Slide Tackle – which she introduces with a cry of 'No more melancholy!' – plays with disco. The guitar finger slide comes out for the country-tinged Men In Bars, with drummer Craig Hendrix sharing the vocals, a part originally performed by Jeff Bridges. Throughout, Zauner's voice is so expressive and full of intent, and her presence is tirelessly warm and breezy. She introduces Winter in LA as being about 'being miserable in lovely places', a contrast that could apply to the whole set. It's not easy to tour to Australia in the '20s. As Zauner tells us, it's so far away and expensive ('IT IS EXPENSIVE!' someone validates from the crowd). But even with high overheads, Zauner wasn't skimping on the massive gong at the back of the stage, used only for the chorus of Paprika in the encore. Correct decision.
The Age
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Japanese Breakfast beats Melbourne cold with warm presence and irresistible performance
MUSIC | Rising Festival Japanese Breakfast ★★★★ PICA, June 5 'It's so cold here! What's going on?' says Michelle Zauner, driving force behind indie darlings Japanese Breakfast. Yes, it's cold in Melbourne right now, and especially in PICA, a big empty shed in Port Melbourne with uneven concrete floors and unlit portaloos. Everyone's wearing massive coats and basking in our collective body heat, while cursing our friends at the Jessica Pratt show in the warm, acoustically luxuriant recital hall. But I'm at a Japanese Breakfast show and thrilled about it. It's been eight years since they last visited, and since then they've put out the breakthrough hit album Jubilee and this year's literate, almost baroque For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women), and Zauner has written a bestselling memoir, Crying in H Mart. She writes songs dense with emotion and pathos, and performs them irresistibly. The six-piece opens with three songs from the new album, all dripping with Zauner's great lyrics and the band's rich instrumentation. She's in a frilly shirt and torn tights. Saxophone dances with flute as the lights play with the stage smoke. 'The breeze carries salt / And sipping milky broth / He cast his gaze towards the sea out / The Winnebago,' she sings on Orlando in Love. It's dreamlike. The sound bounces around indie genres. Honey Water leans into shoegaze. Slide Tackle – which she introduces with a cry of 'No more melancholy!' – plays with disco. The guitar finger slide comes out for the country-tinged Men In Bars, with drummer Craig Hendrix sharing the vocals, a part originally performed by Jeff Bridges. Throughout, Zauner's voice is so expressive and full of intent, and her presence is tirelessly warm and breezy. She introduces Winter in LA as being about 'being miserable in lovely places', a contrast that could apply to the whole set. It's not easy to tour to Australia in the '20s. As Zauner tells us, it's so far away and expensive ('IT IS EXPENSIVE!' someone validates from the crowd). But even with high overheads, Zauner wasn't skimping on the massive gong at the back of the stage, used only for the chorus of Paprika in the encore. Correct decision.
Gulf Weekly
20-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Gulf Weekly
Melancholic melodies
AMERICAN indie pop band Japanese Breakfast are releasing their fourth studio album For Melancholy Brunettes (and Sad Women) tomorrow. The musical creation tackles the concept of 'melancholy' as portrayed in literature. Throughout the making, lead singer Michelle Zauner explored European romanticism, Greek mythology and gothic romance classics, including Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, which is reflected in the music. 'Based on what I was reading and the art I was consuming, it (the album) became like a series of moral tales about people who lose the balance of their lives and are lured by temptation,' Michelle said in an interview. The project is also set to mark the band's return to examining dark and moody themes. Their third album Jubilee (2021), which earned a Grammy nomination for best alternative music album, explored happier feelings than earlier works. The frontwoman is also known for her bestselling 2021 memoir Crying in H Mart, where she wrote about grieving her mother's death. Alongside Michelle, the band consists of Peter Bradley (guitar), Deven Craige (bass) and Craig Hendrix (drums, keyboards, backing vocals).
Express Tribune
19-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Celine Song's Materialists trailer debuts with Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, Chris Evans, and Japanese Breakfast's new song
Academy Award-nominated writer and director Celine Song has released the trailer for her latest film, Materialists, marking her first foray into the romantic comedy genre. Building on the success of her critically acclaimed debut, Past Lives, Song's new project features a star-studded cast, including Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans. The A24-backed film follows a driven New York City matchmaker who becomes entangled in a love triangle. Pascal portrays a wealthy and charismatic man, while Evans plays a former lover who deeply understands her, rekindling unresolved emotions. The narrative explores themes of love, ambition, and self-discovery. The Materialists trailer also introduces an original song by Japanese Breakfast, the musical project of Michelle Zauner. While the track is not part of Zauner's upcoming album, For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women), fans can expect the album's full release this Friday. Zauner's career has seen a meteoric rise following her best-selling memoir Crying in H Mart and Grammy-nominated album Jubilee. Last month, Zauner released the single "Mega Circuit," an exploration of masculinity and bigotry, accompanied by a visually compelling music video co-directed with longtime collaborator Adam Kolodny. Materialists is set for international release on June 13. As anticipation grows, fans can stay updated on the film and its soundtrack through Hypebeast and other entertainment news sources.
Wall Street Journal
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
‘For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)' Review: Japanese Breakfast's Richly Textured Record
Japanese Breakfast, the indie-rock band led by singer-songwriter Michelle Zauner, is one of many musical projects that has become identified with the 'sad girl' archetype. This aesthetic, fueled by social media, is about performing misery and vulnerability for the benefit of a short-form video audience. The soundtrack for youthful oversharing includes introspective and confessional artists like Lana Del Rey, Mitski, Phoebe Bridgers and, yes, Ms. Zauner's band. It's a mode that has been around long enough that it's starting to undergo some cultural pushback, as all trends ultimately do. And so when Ms. Zauner announced that the fourth Japanese Breakfast album would be called 'For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)' (Dead Oceans), one wondered if she was working in an idiom that had become over-saturated. But the new collection, out Friday, is far richer and more nuanced than the reflexive response to its title might imply. Collaborating with producer Blake Mills (Fiona Apple, Alabama Shakes), she has assembled a highly cinematic collection of stories that consistently delivers in terms of simple musical pleasure.
