Acceptance. That's where I'm at with this new Japanese Breakfast album. I've listened to it about five times now (helpful due to its brevity), and it washes over me every time. Nothing really stands out, until Jeff Bridges jarringly begins to sing.
There's nothing bad going on here. Just nothing particularly noteworthy. The slow, melodic sounds that usher you in blend track to track into a comforting yet bland blanket. If this were a new artist to me, I'd politely nod along and ignore the band going forward.
But we all have such a history with JB. When I was volunTOLD to write a review this summer, I chose this one, because I genuinely want to keep up with Michelle Zauner's art. I've been a big fan of her prior albums and book; I met this with such anticipation. Though I'm not mad, I am a little disappointed.
Again, not bad here. Just a bit more shoegaze than I like. I googled what genre JB is classified and got this "experimental pop, lo-fi, dream." That's what this album sounds like, but I'd argue the prior albums were more rocking, contained linear stories, and generally engaged me better. They were more fun!
That's a problem I have with many artists I like. All I want for them to do is create more of the same. No pushing boundaries or slightly varying the sound. Give me the 2025 version of Psychopomp and call it a day. But that narrow view forecloses growth and their continued life experience impacting the art they are making now. To Zauner: It's not you, it's me.
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A short postscript about gossip (but not really b/c there's no gotcha here)...
Suddenly, I am worried that Zauner is experiencing heartache. Did she and her bassist/guitar player husband Peter get divorced? Their story in Crying in H Mart was simple and lovely. (googling album's inspiration) ... OK, Peter is not playing guitar on the record, but the title is a tongue-in-cheek reference to a John Cheever short story collection ..... OK, he's touring on the album. Sometimes just the two of them acoustically. I guess all is well, but maybe he's not a great session musician?
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