Japanese Breakfast is Michelle Zauner’s first solo project since fronting the Philadelphian bands Little Big League and Post Post . The songs on Psychopomp were written over the past six years, some after the passing of her mom.
Her song, “Jane Cum,” is a dark meditation on love lost. The video, directed by Adam Kolodny, captures that longing—bright headlights cut through black woods, a chip of quartz sparkles in the sun, and a coven of witches carry out a clandestine ritual. Premiering today, “Jane Cum” offers a peek at the delicate balance of Japanese Breakfast’s last album: sometimes light as a feather, other times dark as night.
Sometimes the only way to deal with devastating tragedy is to turn it into something beautiful, and Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner does exactly that on the gorgeously dream-hazed Psychopomp. With soft-focus drum loops and gauzy synths, the former indie rocker pays tribute to a mom who was claimed by cancer, while, in the larger picture, reminding us that the pain one day fades but the good memories don’t.
The Fat Angel Sings 