Japanese Breakfast – “Boyish”
“Boyish” started its life as a demo in Michelle Zauner’s song-a-day project and went on to be included on Little Big League’s sophomore album, but Zauner decided to reimagine the song for Soft Sounds From Another Planet, her second album as Japanese Breakfast. She went into the reasoning behind why in our recent interview with her, and there’s no doubt that this new one is the definitive version of the track. It’s yearning and pathetically romantic, charting the start of a relationship in which one party has a wandering eye: “I can’t get you off my mind, I can’t get you off in general,” Zauner sings. “So here we are, we’re just two losers/ I want you and you want something more beautiful.” “Boyish” is painful and honest in its insecurity, and based on this and lead single “Machinist,” Soft Sounds is shaping up to be just as multifaceted and varied as Zauner’s first.
“Craig Hendrix and I wanted to produce this sort of grandiose Roy Orbison-esque ballad,” Zauner said in a press release. “We wanted the chorus to have big arrangements, lots of harmonies and synth strings, to create a really sweeping, melancholic effect that mirrored the nature of the lyrics. The song is about jealousy and sexual incompetence. It’s about feeling ugly.”
Listen below.
Tour Dates:
06/07 Orlando, FL @ The Social *
06/09 Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall *
06/10 Austin, TX @ The Parish *
06/11 Dallas, TX @ Club Dada *
06/13 Phoenix, AZ @ The Rebel Lounge *
06/15 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echoplex *
06/16 San Diego, CA @ The Irenic *
06/17 Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room *
06/18 San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel *
06/20 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile *
06/21 Vancouver, BC @ The Cobalt *
06/22 Portland, OR @ Holocene *
06/24 Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court *
06/25 Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge *
06/27 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St Entry *
06/28 Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge *
06/29 Columbus, OH @ Double Happiness *
06/30 Lakewood, OH @ Mahall’s *
07/01 Detroit, MI @ El Club *
07/02 Toronto, ON @ Velvet Underground *
07/04 Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PDB *
07/05 Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair *
07/06 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg *
07/07 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom *
07/08 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
07/15 Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool ~
07/27 Halifax, NS @ Rebecca Cohn Auditorium ^
07/28 Portland, ME @ State Theatre ^
07/29 Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom ^
07/31 Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues ^
08/02 Covington, KY @ Madison Theater ^
10/23 Cologne, DE @ Blue Shell
10/25 Berlin, DE @ Badenhouse
11/02 Brighton, GB @ The Joker
11/06 Leeds, GB @ Headrow House
11/07 London, GB @ The Dome Tufnell Park
* w/ (Sandy) Alex G & Cende
^ w/ Tegan & Sara
~ Free Record Release Show w/ Yohuna (Starts at 2PM)
Soft Sounds From Another Planet is out 7/14 via Dead Oceans. Pre-order it here.