For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)

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For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)
Japanese Breakfast - For Melancholy Brunettes (and Sad Women).png
Studio album by
Japanese Breakfast
ReleasedMarch 21, 2025 (2025-03-21)
Studio Sound City (Los Angeles)
Genre
Length32:17
Label Dead Oceans
Producer Blake Mills
Japanese Breakfast chronology
Sable (Original Video Game Soundtrack)
(2021)		For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)
(2025)
Singles from For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)
  1. "Orlando in Love"
    Released: January 7, 2025
  2. "Mega Circuit"
    Released: February 13, 2025

For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) is the fourth studio album by American indie pop band Japanese Breakfast. The album was produced by Blake Mills and released on March 21, 2025, through Dead Oceans. Two singles, "Orlando in Love" and "Mega Circuit”, were released earlier in the year.

Contents

Background and recording

The album is the band's follow-up to 2021's Grammy-nominated Jubilee , which explored happier feelings than its first two albums. The songs, by lead singer Michelle Zauner, are said to return to darker, "gothic-gloomy" melancholy inspired by the "psychic state of poets on the verge of inspiration". [2] [3] [4]

Recorded at Sound City Studios in Los Angeles, the album is the band's first recorded in a professional studio setting, instead of in-home studios and other improvised locations. [5] Zauner worked with producer Blake Mills, best known for his works with Bob Dylan and Fiona Apple. [6]

Writing and composition

The album's title, Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women), is taken from the track, "Orlando In Love", with Michelle Zauner noting: "I was reading a book of short stories called The World of Apples by John Cheever, and there’s a short story in that book about a man who’s unhappy in his marriage and is fantasizing about all the different women he wants to sleep with, and some of them are melancholy brunettes and some are sad women. I just thought that combination of words was quite funny, and sort of filed it away and ended up using it in the song "Orlando In Love". I found it to be sort of romantic and tongue-in-cheek, and it had 'melancholy' in the title which I think is really the kind of thematic throughline through the album. I like semi-obnoxious, divisive titles. Like Fiona Apple’s When the Pawn... and the Smashing Pumpkins’ Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness . I kind of felt like I shared similar themes with that album. But yeah, it seems to be quite divisive in ways that I think I anticipated a bit, but is also misunderstood in annoying ways." [7]

Release

The album was announced on January 7, 2025. [8] That same day, Zauner released the lead single, "Orlando in Love", which deals with "desire and its perils". [9] The second single, "Mega Circuit", was released on February 13, 2025. [10] The full album was released on March 21, 2025 through Dead Oceans.

The band announced a tour called "The Melancholy Tour" in support of For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) from April to September 2025. [11]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.1/10 [12]
Metacritic 84/100 [13]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [14]
Clash 8/10 [15]
DIY Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [16]
The Line of Best Fit 8/10 [17]
Pitchfork 7.7/10 [18]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) received a rating of 84 out of 100 based on nineteen critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". [13]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Michelle Zauner.

For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)
No.TitleLength
1."Here Is Someone"3:08
2."Orlando in Love"2:25
3."Honey Water"4:50
4."Mega Circuit"3:04
5."Little Girl"3:40
6."Leda"3:18
7."Picture Window"2:58
8."Men in Bars" (featuring Jeff Bridges)2:48
9."Winter in LA"2:58
10."Magic Mountain"3:08
Total length:32:17

Personnel

Charts

Chart performance for For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)
Chart (2025)Peak
position
Scottish Albums (OCC) [19] 6
UK Albums (OCC) [20] 79
UK Americana Albums (OCC) [21] 1
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [22] 5
US Billboard 200 [23] 46
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [24] 8
US Top Rock & Alternative Albums ( Billboard ) [25] 8

References

  1. ↑ Ehrlich, Brenna (March 18, 2025). "Japanese Breakfast: Not Sad, Just Brilliant". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 29, 2025.
  2. ↑ Laurent, Flo (January 9, 2025). "Japanese Breakfast announce new album For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)". Hot Press . Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  3. ↑ Murray, Robin (January 7, 2025). "Japanese Breakfast Announces New Album For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)". Clash . Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  4. ↑ Brodsky, Rachel (January 7, 2025). "Japanese Breakfast Announces New Album For For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)". Stereogum . Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  5. ↑ Kickham, Dylan (January 7, 2025). "Japanese Breakfast announces a moody new album & tour dates". Nylon . Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  6. ↑ Wescott, Andrew (January 7, 2025). "Japanese Breakfast has announced a new album For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)". Dork . Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  7. ↑ Hughes, Mia (March 19, 2025). "We've Got A File On You: Japanese Breakfast". Stereogum . Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  8. ↑ Corcoran, Nina (January 7, 2025). "Japanese Breakfast Announces Tour and New Album, Shares Video for New Song: Watch". Pitchfork . Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  9. ↑ Gregory, Allie (January 7, 2025). "Japanese Breakfast Details New Album For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women), Plots Tour". Exclaim! . Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  10. ↑ Partridge, Ken (February 13, 2025). "Japanese Breakfast Confronts Modern Masculinity On New Song "Mega Circuit"". Genius . Retrieved February 13, 2025.
  11. ↑ Martoccio, Angie (January 7, 2025). "Japanese Breakfast have a new album on the way, and the title is so damn good". Rolling Stone . Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  12. ↑ "For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) by Japanese Breakfast reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
  13. 1 2 "For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) by Japanese Breakfast Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic . Retrieved April 23, 2025.
  14. ↑ Collar, Matt. "For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) – Japanese Breakfast". AllMusic . Retrieved April 23, 2025.
  15. ↑ Walker-Smart, Sam (March 19, 2025). "Japanese Breakfast - For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)". Clash . Retrieved April 23, 2025.
  16. ↑ Temperton, Millie (March 21, 2025). "Japanese Breakfast - For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)". DIY . Retrieved April 23, 2025.
  17. ↑ Khuttapan, Tanatat (March 21, 2025). "Japanese Breakfast tackles the perils of love and masculinity on For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women)". The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved April 23, 2025.
  18. ↑ "Japanese Breakfast: For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) Album Review | Pitchfork reviews". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  19. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 29, 2025.
  20. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 28, 2025.
  21. ↑ "Official Americana Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 29, 2025.
  22. ↑ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 29, 2025.
  23. ↑ "Japanese Breakfast Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 1, 2025.
  24. ↑ "Japanese Breakfast Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 1, 2025.
  25. ↑ "Japanese Breakfast Chart History (Top Rock & Alternative Albums)". Billboard . Retrieved April 1, 2025.
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