{"id":2277,"date":"2021-06-04T09:41:20","date_gmt":"2021-06-04T08:41:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fr-nt.nl\/?p=2277"},"modified":"2022-06-07T22:45:48","modified_gmt":"2022-06-07T21:45:48","slug":"werken-is-delen-voor-japanese-breakfast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fr-nt.nl\/en\/2021\/06\/04\/werken-is-delen-voor-japanese-breakfast\/","title":{"rendered":"Working is sharing for Japanese Breakfast\u2019s Michelle Zauner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michelle Zauner is juggling two major rollouts at once: one for her memoirs Crying in H Mart<\/em>, a coming-of-age story of adolescent rebellion and reconciliation with her lineage as an Asian American. The other is about her next album as Japanese Breakfast, entitled Jubilee<\/em>, Zauner\u2019s most sonically ambitious work to date. Though she admits the many Zoom conversations and interviews are starting to eat away at her sanity, she relishes in throwing herself at her work. After all, that visible grind is precisely why Japanese Breakfast has become a household name to begin with.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by: <\/strong>Jasper Willems
Illustrations: <\/strong>Frann de Bruin<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the year 2016, women of Asian descent changed the face of indie rock for the better. Mitski\u2019s elegant, mysterious songs can make the achingly personal sound impressionistic. Jay Som\u2019s ingenious, daredevil mastery of sound and production present a potent echo chamber for her introverted personality. Then there\u2019s Japanese Breakfast, the scrappy, outgoing world-builder whose biggest superpower is her stubborn imagination, a trait stretched across myriad disciplines and skills. Out of these three former road mates, Michelle Zauner\u2019s outfit feels like the most grounded. By comparison, Mitski\u2019s songwriting and Jay Som\u2019s productions often gleam like gifts from the divine. Everything orbiting Japanese Breakfast, meanwhile, feels well-earned, attained through defiant, dogged fortitude and toughness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was a time where all I could think about was my mom\u2019s death and what I\u2019d been through. For the last six years, that\u2019s all I could think of.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

On her new album Jubilee, Zauner doubles down on joy, and concurrently, taking that very joy at face value. The woozy, murky sonics of Psychopomp<\/em> and sepia-toned symphonics of Soft Sounds From Another Planet<\/em> make way for a widescreen, technicolor sound palette that embraces more of Zauner\u2019s influences than ever before. Sonic touchstones such as Bj\u00f6rk\u2019s Homogenic<\/em>, Kate Bush\u2019s Hounds Of Love<\/em> and The Kinks\u2019 \u2018Waterloo Sunset\u2019 shimmer through . \u201cI think so much of that came from having the opportunity to tour professionally for at least three years and meeting a lot of other musicians. Like Molly Germer, who played violin on the record, and Adam Schatz, who played saxophone on the record. And of course Jack Tatum of Wild Nothing. They all come with a network of string and brass players. Part of it was about getting comfortable with working with other people, inviting new collaborators who can bring new things. On Soft Sounds<\/em> I was just so worried about the sophomore slump. On this record I had more confidence, more ambition to invite different people into the project than I had before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPaprika\u201d is a vibrant orchestral song , a parade of marching drums and resplendent horns, signifying the release from years of tension. Once again her cutting sense of humor pierces through, citing the hackneyed \u201cHow does it feel?\u201d-questionnaire as if she\u2019s interviewing herself. \u201cProjecting your visions to strangers who feel it, who listen, who linger on every word \/ Oh it\u2019s a rush!\u201d,<\/em> she sings triumphantly. The most moving part however, is when the fanfare simmers down, and Zauner contemplates the blowback after the plunge: \u201cBut alone it feels like dying \/ All alone I feel so much\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Controlled death<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In the nineteenth chapter of Crying In H Mart<\/em>, Kimchi Fridge, Zauner recalls the time she learned how to ferment kimchi as a form of therapy, initially remarking in the book that fermentation is actually a form of \u201ccontrolled death\u201d. But death would mean the remains of the cabbage would wither away permanently and rot. But by storing cabbages, their building blocks can transform into something new, albeit different in taste and texture. Zauner\u2019s fridge at one point was filled with kimchi fermenting at various stages, too much for her to consume by herself. So eventually, she shared them with friends and loved ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it\u2019s playing guitar or cooking breakfast, work became another way of sharing for Zauner, which also means sharing the courage and effort she had to summon to overcome her toughest trials, such as the turbulent relationship with her deceased mother. Joy may not be the absolute, everlasting thing sold in movies and storybooks, but perhaps a valuable resource to store, harvest and share with others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was a time where all I could think about was my mom\u2019s death and what I\u2019d been through. For the last six years, that\u2019s all I could think of. I couldn\u2019t really think about anything else than what I had to write about, because I had to clear the clouds. And part of that was like compartmentalising that into work. A lot of work lies in the figuring out: how do I feel about that? And how do I try to make peace with it? A lot about making things work is simply about making peace with different parts of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coalescing<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Due to Japanese Breakfast\u2019s steadily growing popularity, Zauner\u2019s story has gotten out of hand in the most positive sense. What started as a personal tale of a Korean-American woman growing up displaced in a small Pacific Northwest town, mushroomed into a more comprehensive discussion: how the marriage between food and migration can expand traditions into new culinary forms. In a series of video reports produced by Vice, Zauner visited different restaurants that apply some form of fusion cooking, unique amalgamations of dishes rooted in different cultures. Watching these shows makes one appreciate food as a true art form; music for your taste buds. In music, populations seem much more open to letting styles coalesce in interesting ways, but going by Zauner\u2019s own perspective, it appears to strike more of a nerve in the realm of cuisine. As the host, she herself became a lightning rod for a lot of food purists in the comment sections.<\/p>\n\n\n