| Psychopomp | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 1, 2016 | |||
| Recorded | 2014–2015 | |||
| Studio | CR Ensemble; Eugene, Oregon, U.S. | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 25:11 | |||
| Label |
| |||
| Producer |
| |||
| Japanese Breakfast chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Psychopomp | ||||
| ||||
Psychopomp is the debut studio album by Japanese Breakfast, the solo musical project of Michelle Zauner of Little Big League. The album was released in the U.S. through Yellow K Records on April 1, 2016, and re-released internationally through Dead Oceans on August 19, 2016.
Michelle Zauner fronted the Philadelphian emo band Little Big League from 2011 until 2014, [2] when she returned to her hometown of Eugene, Oregon, where her mother had been diagnosed with cancer. [2]
While tending to her family in Oregon, Zauner began recording solo music as a self-meditative and "instant-gratification" feeling [3] and because she found she had more to say after Tropical Jinx, the 2014 studio album by Little Big League. The work led to Psychopomp, published under her project Japanese Breakfast. Zauner said she chose the name "Japanese Breakfast" to juxtapose Asian exoticism and American culture. [4] Psychopomp is named after the creature of the same name, which Zauner learned of in an essay by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. [5]
Zauner described the debut album as quite "dark and heavy-handed", although she had a desire to make the music urgent [6] and "sonically upbeat." [3] In the album, she discusses regret of not being there with her mother and her decision to get married before her mother went into a coma. [3]
The album's cover features a photograph of Zauner's mother in her twenties, left, with an old friend in Seoul, Zauner wrote in her 2021 memoir Crying in H Mart . [7]
Zauner, whose mother was Korean and her father Jewish American, has said she hopes that her work can help persuade more Asian Americans to get involved in music. [6]
The album's rollout saw the release of three singles: "In Heaven," "Everybody Wants To Love You" and "The Woman That Loves You. "In Heaven," was released on January 20, 2016 and premiered via Stereogum as the album's lead single. [8] "Everybody Wants to Love You" and "The Woman That Loves You" were released on February 18 and March 8 respectively. [9] The latter track was premiered via The Fader. [10] The album itself was released on April 1, 2016 in the US. After Japanese Breakfast signed to the record label Dead Oceans, Psychopomp was re-released internationally, both of on August 19, 2016. [11]
To promote the album, Zauner opened for Japanese-American singer-songwriter Mitski alongside American singer Jay Som. [12] Later the same year, she performed in the UK to promote Psychopomp's then upcoming international re-release. Following these performances, Zauner toured with American band Porches in a joint tour to promote their respective albums. [13]
Psychopomp is a dream pop, [14] [15] indie pop, and lo-fi album. [16] According to AllMusic's Tim Sendra, "the album has all the hallmarks of a homemade lo-fi album, but also has the feel of a wobbly '80s pop album played on a long-lost cassette." Sendra also wrote that the album's sound shifts between "guitar-lashed indie rock with swooping synths ("Rugged Country"), melancholy ballads played on tear-stained keys ("Jane Cum," "Triple 7"), driving pop/rock with pumped-up hooks ("Everybody Wants to Love You"), and bass-heavy, almost painfully heartfelt indie rock ("Heft")". [17] Nina Corcocan of Consequence of Sound wrote: "It's lo-fi heart with detailed production, the type of pop that feels homey and familiar — which is doubly surprising given Zauner’s other band, Little Big League, is full of jock riffs and chunky guitar rock." [16] PopMatters ' Jasper Bruce thought that the album serves "cocktails of electronic, garage rock and lyrical vocals." [18]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.1/10 [19] |
| Metacritic | 76/100 [20] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [17] |
| Consequence of Sound | B [16] |
| Pitchfork | 7.9/10 [21] |
| PopMatters | 7/10 [18] |
| Spin | 7/10 [15] |
Psychopomp received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 76, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on five reviews. [20] AllMusic critic Tim Sendra, who described the record as "an impressive work by an artist well worth watching in the future", wrote, "Zauner's songs don't need dressing up; time and again she and Eisenberg make the right choices that allow the melodies to breathe and the emotions to flow unhindered by artifice." [17] Consequence of Sound 's Nina Corcoran wrote, "Psychopomp chases joy while replicating it in the process, leaving you full of the belief that this could be your year after all." [16] Pitchfork critic Laura Snapes wrote that the record "offers much more than that: at once cosmically huge and acutely personal, Zauner captures grief for the perversely intimate yet overwhelming pain it is. Long may she keep at this music thing." [21] PopMatters ' Jasper Bruce wrote that Psychopomp "juggles spacy soundscapes with insistent, driving grooves. For the most part, the record pulls off this balancing act seemingly effortlessly and with style." [18] Spin critic Anna Gaca described it as "a sharp-edged exploration of how loneliness and longing form into brittle personal shields." [15]
PopMatters listed the album as number 3 on its list of "The 10 Best Shoegaze and Dream Pop Albums of 2016". [22]
All lyrics are written by Michelle Zauner
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "In Heaven" | 3:50 |
| 2. | "The Woman That Loves You" | 2:24 |
| 3. | "Rugged Country" | 2:53 |
| 4. | "Everybody Wants to Love You" | 2:12 |
| 5. | "Psychopomp" | 1:15 |
| 6. | "Jane Cum" | 3:31 |
| 7. | "Heft" | 3:37 |
| 8. | "Moon on the Bath" | 1:29 |
| 9. | "Triple 7" | 4:00 |
| Total length: | 25:11 | |
Musicians
Production
Kylie Ann Minogue is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fashion world as a major style icon. Her accolades include two Grammy Awards, four Brit Awards and eighteen ARIA Music Awards. Minogue is the highest-selling Australian female artist of all time, with sales surpassing 80 million records worldwide. In 2024, Time named her one of the most influential people in the world.
Karen Lee Orzolek is a South Korean-born American singer, musician, and songwriter. She is the lead vocalist of the indie rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
"All You Wanted" is a song by American singer-songwriter Michelle Branch, released as the second single from her debut album, The Spirit Room (2001). Written by Branch and produced by John Shanks, the song was released in the United States by Maverick Records on January 7, 2002.
"Carry the Zero" is a song recorded by the American rock band Built to Spill for their fourth studio album, Keep It Like a Secret (1999). It was released as the second single from Keep It Like a Secret in 1999 through Warner Bros. Records. An extended play of the same name was released the same year; it is their first solo EP after the 1995 split EP Built to Spill Caustic Resin.
Kimberly Michelle Pate is an American R&B singer and television personality. She was a regular cast member on the VH1 reality television series Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta during its first two seasons, later returning to the show during its fifth season. She subsequently signed with Atlantic Records. Her debut studio album, Rebellious Soul, debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, and number one on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. Her second studio album Anybody Wanna Buy a Heart? was released in 2014, debuting at number six in the US and selling 87,000 copies in its first week. It spawned three singles, "Love 'Em All", "Maybe I Should Call" and "Hard to Do".
Claire Elise Boucher, known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her lyrics often touch on science fiction and feminist themes. The visuals in her videos are elaborate and sometimes have fantasy themes. She has released five studio albums.
Jack Michael Antonoff is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is the lead vocalist of the rock band Bleachers, and previously the guitarist and drummer for the pop band Fun and the lead vocalist of the indie rock band Steel Train. Antonoff has produced and co-written songs with other music acts, known for working with artists such as Taylor Swift, Lorde, Lana Del Rey, St. Vincent, and Kendrick Lamar.
Little Big League was an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Revival is the second studio album by American singer Selena Gomez. It was released on October 9, 2015, by Interscope Records, her first album released through that label. Preparation for the album began in 2014, when Gomez left her previous label Hollywood Records. The record was influenced by a range of artists, particularly Christina Aguilera and her album Stripped (2002). Gomez co-wrote twelve of its sixteen tracks. The album reflects her journey since 2013, including the media scrutiny surrounding her personal life. As executive producers, Gomez, Danny D and Tim Blacksmith collaborated with Hit-Boy, Rock Mafia, and Stargate to achieve Gomez's new desired sound. Revival is primarily a dance-pop and electropop record, connected by a tropical beach sound, with lyrical themes revolving around love and confidence.
Japanese Breakfast is an American indie pop band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania formed in 2013. The project is fronted by vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter Michelle Zauner, alongside Peter Bradley (guitar), Deven Craige (bass) and Craig Hendrix.
Melina Mae Cortez Duterte, better known by her stage name Jay Som, is an American, Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and mixing engineer. Her debut record Everybody Works was released on Double Denim Records & Polyvinyl Records in March 2017, which was preceded by Turn Into, a collection of songs that first gained her attention as a singer-songwriter. The follow-up to Everybody Works and Jay Som's second home studio album, Anak Ko, was released on August 23, 2019 via Polyvinyl, Lucky Number, and Inertia.
Soft Sounds from Another Planet is the second studio album by American indie pop band Japanese Breakfast. The album was released by Dead Oceans on July 14, 2017.
Michelle Chongmi Zauner is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and author, known as the lead vocalist of the indie pop band Japanese Breakfast. Her 2021 memoir, Crying in H Mart, spent 60 weeks on The New York Times hardcover non-fiction bestseller list. In 2022, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world under the category Innovators on their annual list.
"Drake Would Love Me" is an R&B song recorded by American singer K. Michelle for her second studio album, Anybody Wanna Buy a Heart? (2014). It was written by Michelle and Bianca Atterberry. Its music and production came from Oak Felder, Ronald "Flippa" Colson, and Stephen Mostyn. Atlantic Records initially released the song via streaming on VH1's website on December 2, 2014, before it became available with the rest of the album the following week.
"Capacity" is a song recorded by American rock band Charly Bliss. The song was released on February 6, 2019 through Barsuk Records, as the lead single from the band's second studio album, Young Enough (2019). The song was written by the entire band: vocalist/guitarist Eva Hendricks, drummer Sam Hendricks, guitarist Spencer Fox, and bassist Dan Shure. The song and accompanying album were produced by veteran engineer Joe Chiccarelli. Hendricks penned the song's lyrics as a self-critique of her own tendency to be accommodating.
Sable is an open world exploration video game developed by Shedworks and published by Raw Fury. It was released on 23 September 2021, for Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, and released on PlayStation 5 on 29 November 2022.
Jubilee is the third studio album by American indie pop band Japanese Breakfast, released on June 4, 2021 through Dead Oceans. Released shortly after the publication of her memoir Crying in H Mart, frontwoman Michelle Zauner said, "After spending the last five years writing about grief," she wanted Japanese Breakfast's third album "to be about joy".
Crying in H Mart: A Memoir is a 2021 memoir by Michelle Zauner, singer and guitarist of the musical project Japanese Breakfast. It is her debut book, published on April 20, 2021, by Alfred A. Knopf. It is an expansion of Zauner's essay of the same name which was published in The New Yorker on August 20, 2018. The title mentions H Mart, a North American supermarket chain that specializes in Korean and other Asian products.
"Be Sweet" is a song by American indie pop band Japanese Breakfast, released on March 2, 2021, as the lead single from their third studio album Jubilee. The band's lead vocalist Michelle Zauner co-wrote the song with Jack Tatum, the founder and lead singer of the indie rock project Wild Nothing. Zauner's bandmate, Craig Hendrix, encouraged her to compose arrangements for Jubilee; the two of them, along with Tatum, worked on the track's production.
The Jubilee Tour was the third headlining concert tour from American indie rock musician Japanese Breakfast.
