MBE playlist: Japanese Breakfast rocks HQ en route to Coachella

Initially conceived as a side project/songwriting challenge for frontwoman Michelle Zauner (while she was part of the Philly indie rock band Little Big League), Japanese Breakfast has steadily expanded its scope and style over the past decade: from spare and confessional bedroom-pop beginnings, to the glossier space it occupies now. Since forming the project in 2013, Zauner has navigated major life changes: cross country moves, intensive caretaking, the loss of her mother, and processing the loss of her mother through her New York Times bestselling memoir, Crying in H Mart.

In many respects, the freshly released album For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) picks up where 2021’s Grammy-nominated Jubilee left off. Think: sugar-rush singles like “Be Sweet” and “Savage Good Boy.” But a strong current of musical maturation runs throughout as the sounds careen expertly from heavy and discordant, to soft and reflective.

Hear it in action by scrubbing to 02:22:29. Japanese Breakfast makes their KCRW Live From debut with For Melancholy Brunettes cuts “Honey Water,” Mega Circuit,” and “Picture Window.” Plus, a little bit of “Winter in LA.”