Hi, everyone. Sleepthony Naptano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. It's time for review of the new Japanese Breakfast album For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women).

If you don't fit that description, you are no longer required to watch the rest of this review. If you do fit that description, though, you have to watch!

Japanese Breakfast, as you may or may not know, is a band spearheaded by singer, songwriter, author, composer, Ms. Michelle Zauner. Her and the band are back with a brand new LP, their first since 2021's, Grammy-nominated Jubilee, an album that I hope everyone still remembers at this point, as some of the biggest and best bonafide indie pop hits of the decade so far landed on that album – "Posing in Bondage", "Be Sweet". That album really proved to be the biggest commercial peak in the band's career so far, which was also preceded by another critically acclaimed album, Soft Sounds from Another Planet.

And off these records, Zauner has really been seeing the success and momentum a lot of bands and songwriters fight tooth and nail for. But rather than immediately pushing to keep the momentum going and also turning into an alternative attention magnet, Michelle has really been taking her time on this next album, doing some soundtrack stuff here and there, also working on a new book.

There have also been some recent profiles and interviews of Michelle that have confirmed that the sudden success of Jubilee brought her a lot of unforeseen stress and anxiety. The reservations and doubts are real, as these are the feelings the start of the album wrestles with on "Here is Someone". Michelle paints a picture of someone on this track who is reminiscing about days where things were simpler, easier, slower, and more care clearly wanting to go back to those times, but simultaneously feeling like things have come so far. I don't want to let you down at this point. And this could be Michelle breaking the fourth wall with the audience, could be her tying into the greater narratives of the album. Either way, it works. Even as she describes the physical toll all of these complex emotions piling on top of her were having, which is all set to very sparkly lavish instrumentation, sounding like something straight out of the indie folk chamber pop craze of the 2000s.

There are similar vibes on the track, "Orlando in Love" as well, which was the lead single to this album, and it's packed with very quaint acoustics, angelic lead vocals, too. Lyrically, this song pretty much describes a man who is going through this in-depth description of just falling in love in, I don't know, a very surreal fantasy. He comes across a bit foolish and odd and whimsical. This is also enhanced by the somewhat exotic string sections playing in the background, too.

There are a lot of things I like about these two tracks, and there are some things I don't as much, as I found them to be a bit scant melodically and brief structurally, reading less like formal songs and more like motifs and meditations or like a narrative musical snapshot of a person or a very specific point in time. The music is just there in the background to support the narrative for the most part, which I guess does make sense on some level – Michelle is a writer.

However, I am more of a fan of the tracks deeper into the record where the musical component is a bit meatier, more developed, with some very difficult relationship dynamics being described taboo. The song "Honey Water", for example, features all these plotting, persistent rhythms and chords, creating this entrancing, jangly wall of sound. Meanwhile, Michelle's breathy vocals speak of a man who just can't seem to stay faithful and not give in to temptation elsewhere, which might be enough to end a relationship or a connection on some songs, but Michelle instead describes herself as trying to rationalize this and just not minding it as much as she can.

Meanwhile, the relationship dynamics on the following track, "Mega Circuit", are even more toxic, with the backbone of the track being built on these very grimy, low down rhythms and pianos. Think Nick Cave or Fiona Apple, maybe PJ Harvey too to an extent. On this song, lyrically, Michelle describes pissed off, jaded young boys "carrying dull prayers for old men cutting holier truths." And also seemingly describes the object of affection on this track being somebody who is just palling around with "incel eunuchs."

The writing on this track is clever, it's poetic, it is biting, and the irony is that somebody who actually embodies the character archetype being described here is probably too dumb to understand what the hell Michelle is even saying.

As insulting and as dismissive as this song may be on some level, admirably, Michelle is seeking out deeper into the record, some greater understanding, really trying to take this story, or at least this dynamic from multiple angles, because on the following track, "Little Girl", there are a lot of parallels going on here, like the toxic male behavior being described in the track, the ATVs. Essentially what's being described here on this song is a dynamic between a father and daughter where the dad is drinking a lot, just cannot get his shit together. His daughter is essentially avoiding him at all costs. The story that is being told here contrasts boldly from the instrumentation in the background, which has these very light lullaby-esque arpeggios. It's very idyllic.

Meanwhile, through this tracklist, what is being built up are a series of narratives where men are just falling horrifically short the women in their lives, be it socially or romantically or parentally. And as the record progresses, quite geniusly, I will say, Michelle continues switching around from different perspectives. As on the following track, "Leda", we are now getting the perspective of the woman or the daughter here who has distanced herself, saying, "I can't relate to you at all," and wondering whether or not it's the bottle or is it his blood. Is it just your bad behavior and the drinking that's making you act this way, or is there something ingrained into your DNA that is creating this distance that can't be overcome? There's a lot of self-destruction being described here. The protagonist wants to be separated from it, and creates a parallel in her own mind here to some Greek mythology toward the very end, too.

Following this, "Picture Window" is maybe the most straightforward, snappy, and well-groomed song here in terms of catchiness and overall hit potential. But honestly, if you're going into this album looking for shimmering, soaring, super snappy indie tunes, you are going to come out of this record sorely disappointed. It is an album of a different tone, a much more melancholy and introspective vibe.

I do think Michelle is leaning a lot more into the storytelling component of her work this time around. And instrumentally on this track we're getting a lot of rustic guitar work, a lot of danceable rock groups, which I could hear playing on the radio back in the day sandwiched between the latest hits from Counting Crows and the Wallflowers, which I do not bring up as a dig, mind you, because I think Michelle and company on this track embody this vibe, these sounds, very well. I mean, it's just some effortlessly cool country rock that brings these sounds together in a way to where you don't really know what genre it sits in most snugly. And miraculously, Michelle's very bright and youthful vocals work into this sound quite perfectly.

Lyrically, we have more callbacks to earlier on the album, the whole "shuffle" nod and everything, and a continuation of its greater themes, as we once again get descriptions of a guy who just can't really seem to keep it together. But also, like with previous narratives on the album, Michelle can't seem to stop putting herself in that position where she is the person who is essentially sticking her fingers in the holes of the dam, trying to desperately plug them all up to prevent it from breaking.

And as if we needed further devotion to to the bit, if you will, we also get "Men in Bars", which is a sparkling duet featuring vocals from Jeff "the Dude" Bridges. What? Why? How? I mean, the guy has released music before, so I mean, Jeff Bridges is no stranger to the studio, but still, I don't think a Japanese Breakfast crossover was on anyone's bingo card in 2025.

But yeah, overall, this track is a very cinematic spin on the typical sad piano bar song ballad. Lyrically, Michelle and Jeff describe exactly the inception point that pretty much leads to the off-kilter relationship dynamics that are described throughout much of this album. Jeff's weary voice, too, actually lends itself to how, you know, goofy and weird and unkempt a lot of the male figures on this album are. But what I will say is this, as weird as the paradigm is between these characters, they're at least self-aware about it on the song and both see, I guess, a tragic romance in it, in a way. It comes off weirdly endearing, so I guess who are we to take it away from them or judge?

We have more inner thoughts and reflections and moody reminiscing on the final two tracks of the album. The closer is actually in reference to the Thomas Mann book of the very similar title. I mean, I don't think there's any denying how well-read this album is once you're done listening to it. But is it well-developed? That's really the question for me. I would say mostly, yes, it is. There are lots of intriguing narratives and references peppered throughout the album, threads that connect one song or scene or character or perspective to another. But is it all adding up into a coherent idea, or is there just a lot of common ground being shared here between all of these ideas? I would say more often than I would like, it does feel more like the latter than the former. Whether or not the music is as compelling as the story held within it depends on what track you're listening to.

Because like I said, in terms of instrumentation and melody, some of the songs on this thing come across pretty hefty and well put together. Whether that be "Honey Water" or "Mega Circuit" or "Men in Bars". Meanwhile, tracks like the opener and closer come across more like breezy moments, which to me are make or break moments in a tracklist that shouldn't feel quite so non-essential. I mean, maybe these tracks should be viewed more as a prologue and epilogue type thing. I don't know. I mean, the record is a bit scant as is with 10 tracks and 32 minutes of run time.

But the songs on here that are locked in truly are great, and I think some of Japanese Breakfast's best. I think there's an argument to be made that this is the band's most cohesive and holistic listen yet, which is why I'm feeling about a strong 7 to a light 8 on it.

Anthony Fantano, Japanese Breakfast, Forever.