Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner reclaims her joy with new album ‘Jubilee’

In her previous two albums, Michelle Zauner, the singer-songwriter behind the solo musical project Japanese Breakfast, delved into the anguish and sorrow of losing her mother to cancer.

While she used to see “reds, blacks and melancholy blues” in her music, she now envisions vivid yellows and lots of warm tones. And her latest album, “Jubilee,” sees Michelle digging herself out of the trenches of grief, and finally reclaiming the sense of joy that had been missing in her life.

“I wanted to write about joy because my past albums were about the death of my mother and the grief and trauma,” she related in a recent video interview arranged by Blackstar, distributor of her label, Dead Oceans, in Asia.

The new album also talks about “processing life and love” and “stepping out of ourselves” in our quest for happiness.”

“I just thought it was a natural progression, coming from darker materials,” added the Korean-American artist, who wrote and recorded the well-loved indie pop tunes “Boyish,” “Diving Woman” and “Everyone Wants to Love You.”

And her heart’s current state is aptly reflected by “Jubilee’s” vibes and sounds.

Known primarily for her dreamy, lo-fi aesthetic, Michelle pulls out all the stops this time around—upbeat and infectious with more bombastic instrumentation.

She also took up theory and piano lessons to further expand her musicality.

“I have never wanted to rest on any laurels,” Michelle stressed. “I wanted to push it as far as it could go, inviting more people in and pushing myself as a composer, a producer and arranger.”

Excerpts from our interview:

Where did the name Japanese Breakfast come from?
It started in 2012 or 2013 as a goofy side project, and I never knew it would put me in a room with Filipino journalists! I had a Tumblr page, where I uploaded demos and attached with them photos and gifs of food. And it so happened that a lot of those were Japanese breakfast. And when you think of that phrase, you think about food that’s neat, soothing and pleasant.

Tell us about your new single, “Be Sweet.”
I wrote it together with Jack Tatum of the band Wild Nothing in Los Angeles. I thought we were collaborating on a song to be pitched to a pop artist, so it was a little more pop-oriented, sassy, 1980s diva. We just wanted to write something that’s fun, and we ended up deciding to keep it … My cowriter came up with a bassline that also has an ’80s direction. And I also fell in love with synths while writing my previous record.

What did you want to achieve with your new album “Jubilee?”
I just wanted to make a good album. I thought a lot about the idea of having a third record, and what it means in a musician’s discography. For many artists, the second one comes with a lot of pressure … the sophomore slump.

The first one, “Psychopomp” was successful by accident, I thought. So I had so much pressure preparing for the second, “Soft Sounds from Another Planet,” and it really stressed me out. But it did quite well and I felt relieved.

Now, I have this confidence knowing that all of this wasn’t an accident. Now you can just be really ambitious and put your best foot forward.

I think that feeling of ambition and theatricality is in the new album. It’s bombastic with huge arrangements … flexing all the muscles.

What did you think about coming up with an album about joy at a time where it seems to be lacking?
The album isn’t just about joy, but fighting for it and preserving it, which a lot of people had to face this year. And I think that would resonate with people. People would like to hear an uplifting record … It feels like this could be a good time for the record to come out because it’s about release of emotions, experiencing joy again.

What about the sound?
I’m now confident doing string and brass arrangements, so we had a string quartet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone. There are instrumentations and the sound is much bigger.

You were here in 2019 for the Summer Noise music festival? Any memorable experiences?
That was the first outdoor fest we did in Asia. I know that a lot of people online had been urging me to come to Manila. How did the people know about us? I don’t know that many US musicians have toured there, so I was curious what my fanbase was like over there.

Because I’m Asian, I was like I really wanted to tour Asia more, and I specifically wanted to go to Manila. It was a chaotic festival, with the sound team, the wires everywhere. But the vibe was so fun and the crowd was sweet. I truly felt welcome there and I can’t wait to come back.

You recently performed at Jimmy Fallon’s late night show. What does that mean to you?
There was a lot of screaming at my apartment when I learned about it.

It’s a unique situation because you can’t really be in the studio because of the pandemic, so you have to do a prerecorded video. It was so fun working with my cinematographer, whom I worked with in my past music videos to make something unique and felt very live. I used to be in a band called the Little Big League, and my bass player left to play for another band because, according to him, they’re going to be big enough for Jimmy Fallon. And I was full of shame when he told me that because I felt like we would never be good enough to reach that level.

A year later, he got fired from the band. They were on Seth Meyers’s show, but not Jimmy Fallon’s. I was starting to tour when he got fired. We needed a bass player so we invited him to join us. And then now we are able to play [on the show of] Jimmy Fallon and I got to roast him on national television! It was a full-circle moment and a career highlight.

Our current situation pushes you guys to be more creative with your live videos.
I try to push myself to be more creative. We could always just do the bare minimum and play in a room. But you want to think of more creative things to do.

You recently released a memoir titled, “Crying in H Mart.” What’s it about?
It’s about my Korean mom and growing up mixed raced, and spending my childhood in a town that’s largely white and no one looks like me (Eugene, Oregon).It delves into my mother’s character and what she was like when she had cancer and passed away. I was her caretaker until she passed away, so I documented that experience.

After she passed, I found comfort in Korean cooking and became fond of this Korean YouTuber Maanchi, who teaches how to cook Korean food in English. It’s a therapeutic process and made me connect with my mother’s memories.

What’s the most important advice you have received from your mom?
Save 10 percent of yourself. She was private and tends to withhold, and I struggled with that growing up. It doesn’t sound like good advice because, in some ways, you want to give yourself wholly and be vulnerable. But it’s also good advice to save 10 percent of yourself so you have something to fall back on.

How would you compare your songwriting to writing a book?
There were lots of things left unsaid and I put them together in a way that was cathartic for me. I was able to move on. It helped me write an album like “Jubilee.” It’s about finding meaning and depth in ordinary things, people, relationships and moments, and writing about them in extraordinary ways. INQ

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