The indie pop band Japanese Breakfast recently dropped their fourth studio album “For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women)” on March 21, 2025. True to its title, the record was a dreamy, indie pop album dealing with melancholia. It was preceded by the singles “Orlando In Love” and “Mega Circuit.”
Japanese Breakfast’s last album, “Jubilee,” was released in 2021. Also in 2021, the band’s frontwoman, Michelle Zauner, became a bestselling author with her memoir “Crying In H Mart.” “For Melancholy Brunettes” was produced by Blake Mills.
Highs
“For Melancholy Brunettes” had an atmospheric quality to its production. Making heavy use of guitar along orchestral-sounding sounding instrumentation, the album’s sounds were immersive with a sleepy, relaxing quality. In Japanese Breakfast’s discography, it was most comparable to their second record “Soft Sounds From Another Planet.”
Zauner’s vocal and lyrical delivery added to the beautiful sonic atmosphere. Her voice was light and soft, nearly blending in with some of the instrumentation. The lyrics were poetic and literary. For example, consider the song “Leda,” “The ocean in view / I'm thinking of all the Grecian Gods / The men they all played to get what they want.”
The highlights of the album were its lead single “Orlando In Love,” a sea-themed love song that perfectly set the mood for the album, “Picture Window,” a moody pop song on the edge of heartbreak; “Leda,” a contemplative Greek myth-infused guitar ballad; and “Honey Water,” an energetic shoegaze-y track about a frustrating relationship.
Lows
In a way, “For Melancholy Brunettes” felt unfinished, needing a couple more lyrics and longer run time on some songs for more variety. Most of the songs were barely three minutes long with the exceptions of “Honey Water” and “Little Girl.” It made the songs come and go too fast to be fully appreciated or fully satisfying.
And while the lyricism was good, it was also too sparse. Many of the songs' stories were underdeveloped and under-explained, their structures more akin to poems than a typical song. This made the stories and descriptions on the songs too vague. For example, the longest song, “Honey Water,” which was nearly five minutes long, had only two verses, a chorus sung once, and a refrain said twice.
Verdict
“For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad woman)” would best be enjoyed on a quiet night by the sea. A sleepy and whimsical album, like a good dream. However, it was a good dream that someone wakes up from too soon, given how short the songs were. There are worse problems for an album to have. After all, doesn’t wanting more of a thing mean said thing is good?
Rating: 8 out of 10
Frank Remski is a film and theater reviewer for The Eastern Echo. He is majoring in media studies and journalism and minoring in public relations. He has worked for The Echo since summer of 2023 and has written both news stories and opinion pieces.
