DarkOwl13: For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) by Japanese Breakfast

Japanese Breakfast follows up their glorious “Jubilee” with an intimate album that causes the listener to lean in and embrace the melancholy. For an album with melancholy running through its veins, it is not depressing. My first listen was in the middle of the night and I pictured the album being performed in a small, dark, Gothic space with candles and incense, which amplifies the dreamlike trance that I felt on the first and subsequent listens. While the album is enjoyable, I do wish some songs had some more lyrics. This album still creates an atmosphere and makes me feel the feelings that Michelle put into this record. I love the opening and closing lyrics as they nicely compliment each other: “Quietly dreaming of slower days, but I don’t want to let you down / We’ve come so far / Can you see a life where we leave this behind?” (“Here Is Someone”) and “Playing king, playing bride / Blooming in my leisure, slipping hours left uncounted / You and me, and soon ours / Bury me beside you in the shadow of my mountain” (“Magic Mountain”). At the start, she talks about her and her love alongside how far they have come and asking about a life where everything they have must be left behind; however, at the end, she talks about the end (death) and being together forever in the afterlife.” It is beauty. It is love. It is simple. It is relatable. The melancholy creeps into our lives with all of the waiting that we do, but there is also immense beauty in these moments, too. Here are some other lyrical gems from the album: “all of my ghosts are real, all of my ghosts are my home” (“Picture Window”) and “While my afternoons move so slow / Pacing the room / Awaiting a moment gone too far / And your special way of ruining the mood” (“Leda”). Here is Someone - 8 Orlando In Love - 10 Honey Water - 8 Mega Circuit - 7 Little Girl - 9 Leda - 10 Picture Window - 9 Men In Bars - 8 Winter In LA - 9 Magic Mountain - 8 86/100 B

For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women)

3/21/2025