Michelle Zauner’s Japanese Breakfast ends a four-year gap with For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women), a fourth album that signals a pivot from the high-voltage glow of Jubilee to a deeper, more inward look. Blake Mills, known for shaping records by Fiona Apple and Dawes, adds his signature touch, weaving organic strings with layered production.
The lead single “Orlando In Love,” inspired by tales of identity from medieval poetry and Virginia Woolf, sets a thoughtful tone. Zauner narrates the demise of Orlando, lured to the sea and losing himself in a siren’s call. The track’s somber groove stands apart from the punchy follow-up “Mega Circuit,” which uses wry humor and driving beats to comment on toxic masculinity. “Little Girl,” meanwhile, shifts to the viewpoint of a grieving father, echoing an older Japanese Breakfast melody with a hushed sadness.
Moments of fervor break through on “Honey Water,” propelled by distorted guitars and an undercurrent of betrayal. Then “Leda” arrives, referencing the Greek myth of Zeus and speaking to the scars left on women. Zauner sings, “They say only love can change a man but all that changes is me,” turning an ancient story into a modern reflection on power dynamics. “Winter in LA” nods to an old-school cinematic aesthetic, its looming soundscape buoyed by lines like “I wish you had a happier woman/ One that could leave the house/ Someone who loves the sun.”
A surprise cameo comes with “Men in Bars,” a duet reworked from an older Zauner piece that ropes in Jeff Bridges for a country-inflected twist. By the time the closing track “Magic Mountain” arrives, Zauner is sizing up transformation: “Once the fever subsides/ I’ll return to the flatlands/ a new man, a new man.” That final note underlines the album’s attention to rebirth and the idea that embracing pain can help us move forward.
Dropping on Friday, For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) follows the Grammy-nominated Jubilee and arrives just as Japanese Breakfast prepares for a sold-out show at El Museo Del Barrio in New York. A Coachella slot this spring marks the next step on their tour circuit. Outside music, Zauner’s memoir Crying in H Mart became a New York Times best seller and was slated for a movie helmed by Will Sharpe, though Zauner recently told Ssense it’s “not happening anytime soon.” Even so, this new chapter points to a continuing evolution—one that tracks how far Zauner has come since Jubilee, but also how intent she is on exploring the parts of herself still uncharted.
Michelle Zauner’s turn toward a quieter palette makes this record an introspective counterpoint to her previous work. The strings and woodwinds offer a sense of drama, but it’s Zauner’s voice that carries the emotional undercurrent, mixing personal experience with nods to poetry and mythology. It’s a window into her world—a place where heartbreak, literary references, and frank commentary coexist in a purposeful collection.
