4/5
Breakfast Can't Wait
Good morning from Japan. Your breakfast is ready. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, indie pop act Japanese Breakfast (fronted by Korean-American Michelle Zauner of 'Crying In H Mart' bestseller fame) are back. And they're about to set foot in the land of the rising sun for some set-lists as part of their world tour, visiting Tokyo (Zepp Shinjuku) and Osaka (Club Quattro). All for 'The Melancholy Tour' supporting their brand-new album 'For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)', which came out this big New Music Friday just gone, alongside the likes of Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco ('I Said I Loved You First'). But there's no infinite sadness to this melancholia like the smashing pumpkins, because this Dead Oceans album is the first Japanese one since they smashed yellow tomatoes in the 'Jubilee', coming out of corona of 2021. Save the sensational 'Sable' video game soundtrack released in the same year.
Breakfast is served via Peter Bradley's guitar, Deven Craige's bass, and the drums, keyboard and backing vocals of Craig Hendrix. Setting off singles like 'Orlando In Love' and 'Mega Circuit' on this top ten track album and their respective nostalgic, throwback videos, chasing cinematic pirates and camcorder recorded dirt bikes lost in the woods. But for all the American love to the cities, seasons and attractions (whether it's the highlight 'Winter In LA', or the closing 'Magic Mountain' peak for all you Floridians), the real big-hitter for the former Little Big League singer is the big collaboration with 'The Big Lebowski' and 'Tron' star actor Jeff Bridges, remaking his own musical legacy once again, like he did with a 'Crazy Heart'. On 'Men In Bars', the 'Sleeping Tapes' singer sings "Got back in the ring, I took a spill/I spent a while just tumbling down/Found my head again and took to a new town." All as Michelle muses to her Hollywood one, "Got lost on the way, I took a route/I didn't mean to follow down/And I was tempted, sure/But I have come home now."
From the 'Here Is Someone' declaring outset, these 'Melancholy Brunettes', are ones that could garner another Grammy nomination like 'Jubilee'. Produced by Blake Mills, who's cut his teeth with Bob Dylan and Fiona Apple, this real record takes inspiration from both. Going from a complete unknown to what they say in 'South Park' about not giving a rat's a## if you're not Fiona Apple. Buried on a pirate's treasure of a feast of food and skulls on this album artwork, this 'Sad Woman' is a reflective album that's as real as it gets for the lonely world we see to be living in now, politically and personally, when people are voting and swiping for the wrong kinds. But whether it be the sweet 'Honey Water', or the ode to 'Leda' ("Talking to you/It's nearly morning where you are/While my afternoons move so slow/Pacing the room/Awaiting a moment gone too far/And your special way of ruining the mood"), this 'Little Girl' is grown on this gothic album of a poet on the verge of inspiration under the gloom of darkness. Open the 'Picture Window' and you can see it in all its glory from Sound City Studios, LA. Inspired, in title, by John Cheever's 'The World Of Apples', this is the best bite yet. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Playlist Picks: 'Orlando In Love', 'Men In Bars (Feat. Jeff Bridges)', 'Winter In LA'.
No comments:
Post a Comment