“The song is about insecurity, particularly what it’s like to love someone who isn’t physically attracted to you.”

Japanese Breakfast is the moniker of Michelle Zauner, who you may know from her work with Philly indie rock act Little Big League. In 2016 she made her solo debut with her full-length Psychopomp and then returned last year with her critically acclaimed 2017 album, Soft Sounds From Another Planet. One of the dope tracks on that sophomore album of Zauner’s is the slow dance worthy “Boyish” which now has a dreamy video to match.

Directed by Zauner herself and made in collaboration with DP Adam Kolodny, the video features a high school dance that takes the classic “girl is sad she doesn’t have the guy” narrative and turns it into something much more powerful about representation. It also features Lindsey Jordan of Snail Mail. As Zauner explained in a press release…

“The video for Boyish was always sort of our magnum opus for Soft Sounds. I think it took Adam Kolodny and I working on so many videos together to prepare for the enormity of a school dance–lighting and decorating such a large space, casting and dressing so many extras. The song is about insecurity, particularly what it’s like to love someone who isn’t physically attracted to you. It’s an old song, the meaning of which has transformed for me over time, but it has always been about a tension and rejection perfectly encompassed by a school dance. I did not attend my own senior prom, so it was the perfect opportunity to bring my own vision of a gorgeous, space dance to life.”

Also the ending makes me cry.

Watch the video for “Boyish” by Japanese Breakfast below…

Soft Sounds From Another Planet is out now via Dead Oceans, give it a listen + Catch Japanese Breakfast live on tour at the dates below.

TOUR DATES:
3/23 – Ewing, NJ @ TCNJ
3/24 – Greenfield, MA @ Hawks & Reed Ballroom
4/2 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar SOLD OUT
4/3 – Durham, NC @ Motorco
4/4 – Athens, GA @ 40 Watt *
4/5 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn *
4/6 – Orlando, FL @ The Abbey * SOLD OUT
4/7 – Tampa, FL @ Crowbar *
4/9 – Houston, TX @ Walter’s
4/10 – Austin, TX @ The Scoot Inn *
4/11 – San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger *
4/13 – Tuscon, AZ @ 191 Toole *
4/15 – Indio, CA @ Coachella
4/17 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy *
4/18 – San Louis Obispo, CA @ SLO Brew *
4/20 – San Diego, CA @ The Irenic *
4/22 – Indio, CA @ Coachella
4/23 – Flagstaff, AZ @ The Green Room *
4/24 – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf *
4/26 – Norman, OK @ Norman Music Festival
4/27 – Little Rock, AR @ Stickyz *
4/28 – Nashville, TN @ Exit / In *
4/29 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups SOLD OUT
5/25-27 – Quincy, WA @ Sasquatch Music Festival
5/30 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club + =
5/31 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw = SOLD OUT
6/1 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair + = SOLD OUT
6/2 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair + = SOLD OUT
6/3 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer + =
6/6 – Richmond, VA @ The Broadberry
6/7-10 – Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo
6/9 – Charlotte, NC @ Neighborhood Theatre
6/14 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Spirit
6/15 – Cincinnati, OH @ Taft Theatre Ballroom
6/16 – St Louis, MO @ The Ready Room
6/17 – Kansas City, MO @ The Record Bar
6/19 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theater ~
6/20 – Sundance, UT @ Sundance Amphitheater ~
6/21 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Bunkhouse Saloon
6/22 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park ~
6/23 – Pomona, CA @ The Glass House
6/25 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater ~
6/28 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre ~
6/29 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre ~
6/30 – Portland, OR @ Oregon Zoo Amphitheater~
7/12 – Dennis, MA @ Cape Cinema
7/13 – Burlington, VT @ ArtsRiot
7/14 – Porstmouth, NH @ 3S Artspace
7/15 – Kingston, NY @ BSP Kingston
7/16 – Rochester, NY @ The Bug Jar
7/18 – Toronto, ON @ The Phoenix
7/19 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Pyramid Scheme
7/20 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall
7/24 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
7/28 – New York, NY @ Panorama Music Festival
9/12 – Columbus, OH @ Skully’s
9/13 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop
9/14 – DeKalb, IL @ The House Cafe
9/16 – Madison, WI @ Majestic Theater
9/18 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line
9/23 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux
10/3 – Mesa, AZ @ The Nile
* w/ Snail Mail
+ w/ LVL UP
= w/ Radiator Hospital
~ w/ Belle & Sebastian
Categories: CULTURE MUSIC