Japanese Breakfast’s “Jubilee” [Review]

It was only a few months ago when I discovered Japanese Breakfast. I was at my local record store browsing through all of the records and something struck me about the cover art for Jubilee. I think I had seen the art for it somewhere before, or maybe it appeared in my feed sometime before. Either way, as soon as I got home I listened to the album in full and immediately fell in love with it. So much so that I ended up going back to the record store a couple of days later in order to pick up the record.

Releasing on June 4th, 2021, “Jubilee” debuted with incredibly high praise, and ended up with a Grammy nomination.

“Jubilee” was released only a few weeks after frontwoman Michelle Zauner put out a memoir titled “Crying in H Mart” which quickly became a New York Times Bestseller after receiving high praise. The memoir shares its name with an essay that Zauner wrote for The New Yorker, which in itself went viral. Japanese Breakfast’s previous albums include “Psychopomp” and “Soft Sounds from Another Planet”, both of which focused heavily on her mother’s death as we can see in her memoir. In the press release for the album, Zauner says “After spending the last five years writing about grief, I wanted our follow-up to be about joy. For me, a third record should feel bombastic and so I wanted to pull out all the stops for this one.”

For this review, I’ll be referencing an interview with Stereogum.

As with previous albums, Japanese Breakfast takes in a lot of influence from artists like Björk and Kate Bush, leaning into the dream-pop and indie-pop feels. While this can be heard throughout the entirety of the record, it’s very apparent in the opening track “Paprika”. The song gets its name from the Satoshi Kon film, “Paprika” and takes influences from the song “Parade” by Susumu Hirasawa which is played during one of the most iconic parts of the film. Zauner and fellow band member Craig Hendrix ended up trying to make a track that had more of a marching band feeling and ended up using up all of the tracks in their ProTools session. To go along with the bright instrumentals are the lyrics focusing on the allure of music.

After such a bright opening, the record takes another direction entirely with “Be Sweet”. One of the most popular songs on the record and the lead single, Zauner ended up producing this track with Jack Tatum of “Wild Nothing”. “Be Sweet” is a funky 80’s song that seems very happy and upbeat on first listen, but lyrically, Zauner is singing to a lover who they fantasize about leaving. The synths are an absolute treat to hear on this song and it really feels like this is a song straight out of the 80s.

“Kokomo, IN” slows things down in a more acoustic-sounding track. Zauner’s vocals are much more breathy on this song and the synths and marching band instruments get exchanged for some violins. Zauner has expressed that this is her favorite song on the record. The point of view shifts to that of a young boy from Kokomo, Indiana, getting ready to leave his hometown and take on the world.

Back to the 80’s feelings with heavy use of synths and guitars is “Slide Tackle”. The true standout of this song is Adam Schatz of “Landlady” who features as an outstanding saxophone player. The song itself is about having to wrestle your brain into submission in order to force yourself to have a good time instead of focusing on dark and depressive thoughts.

Jack Tatum lends some help on “Posing in Bondage”. This is a very slow ballad with a focus on being able to control desire. Zauner explains that bondage, in this case, is a symbol of monogamy and how it can bind people as a form of comfort. The ethereal vocals and instrumentals really show how much influence came from artists like Kate Bush. The line that strikes me the most out of the entire album is “When the world divides into two people, those who have felt pain, and those who have yet to”. This line makes an appearance in Zauner’s memoir in chapter 14 and can really sum up the entire novel as well as Japanese Breakfast’s discography.

“Sit” is a much harsher song on the ears and focuses a lot more on the synths. It sounds straight off of the band’s sophomore album with very airy and echoed sounds. While I do feel as if it’s one of the weaker songs on the record as a whole, the meaning behind it is one of the stronger ones. Focusing on desire, the song is about lust and whether or not you’re able to act on that emotion. While it’s normal for people to experience lust, being loyal to your partner is something that everyone needs to deal with once in a while.

The line “billion dollar bunker for two” had been on Zauner’s mind for a while and turned out to be the premise for “Savage Good Boy”. Zauner sings from the point of view of a billionaire who is trying to get a young woman to come live with them and take care of them. Taking a stance of greed and villainy is something that Zauner wanted to explore and having her try to rationalize that state of mind was the idea behind this track. The funky warped vocals that introduce this song are a bit of an oddity, and kind of add to the theme of corruption. The piano adds a lot of depth to the track, and the guitar at the end is such a nice way to end the song.

Written as a companion to “In Heaven” off of the band’s first album “Psychopomp”, “In Hell” is one of the saddest songs Zauner says she’s written. While “In Heaven” was written about her dog dying and having to put her down, “In Hell” was written about Zauner’s mother, wishing that there was an option to just prevent her suffering instead of slowly dying. While the instrumentals are rather weak on this one, that’s kind of the point of the song.

“Tactics” is about toxic relationships, and in this case, Zauner’s relationship with her now estranged father. While she has fond memories of herself and her father, their relationship has turned sour and resulted in her living across the world from him. The strings on this track are by far some of the most beautiful I’ve ever heard and really carry the weight of it. The orchestration feels incredibly grand during the final chorus and feels like it belongs in a Disney film.

Closing out the album is “Posing For Cars”, the longest track on this record. The track starts off with just a simple acoustic guitar, but it begins to build and build with the addition of a piano, drums, electric guitar, and synths. The vocals end with 4 minutes to go on this track leaving room for the band to really go all out with their instruments. In an interview with The Ringer, Zauner says that the song is a love song about how two people can appreciate each other with affection that can only be “expressed through the guitar”.

Final Thoughts

Japanese Breakfast’s “Jubilee” is a celebration of life, death, and love. Zauner hits the mark taking influences from all parts of her life dealing with happiness, sadness, depression, and grief. It’s easy to see why an album like this was nominated for a Grammy.

References:
New Yorker: Crying in H Mart
Stereogum: The Story Behind Every Song On Japanese Breakfast’s New Album Jubilee

Album Score: 8/10

Favorite Track: “Be Sweet”

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