After two albums and a bestselling book fixating on her mother’s death, Michelle Zauner (Japanese Breakfast) is ready to focus on herself, and she has a lot to be happy about. So far that death has haunted her discography; Zauner’s debut Psychopomp came out back in 2016, in the midst of her mother’s death, and was quickly followed by 2017s Soft Sounds From Another Planet, a more measured rumination on the aftermath of that loss. But it wasn’t until after the release of those two albums and the completion of her memoir Crying in H Mart, that Zauner was able to tie up those loose ends and enjoy the prestige of her success.
Jubilee is notably more celebratory in its themes, focusing on the intricacies of a life after mourning and giving Zauner the freedom to define life in those terms. “Be Sweet” and “Paprika” are both among the spriteliest of her discography and like the best pop songs they offer her a chance to grapple with the complications of love and fame underneath their sparkly surface. As opposed to much of Zauner’s previous works these tracks evoke a convincing boastfulness, a sense that she has already experienced these conflicts and emotions and is instead relishing the memory.
Take “Savage Good Boy,” a track focusing on the unfolding of an abusive relationship told through a series of requests and promises that grow continually more possessive. While on the album the conclusion is hinted at only by the song’s upbeat tone, it’s in the music video that she makes the results more apparent. Jubilee is marked by this uplifting tone, something that Zauner manages even on the softer tracks. Whether it’s the lavish arrangement behind the 60’s pop nugget “Kokomo, Indiana” or the saxophone and chicken-scratch guitar overdubs on “Slide Tackle”, she finds a way to lighten each track and build the album’s cohesion through her instrumentation as well as her lyrics.
Jubilee is an eclectic album, one that pulls its strengths from the opposite ends of Zauner’s discography. Where her previous work was insular and self-reflective, her newest album is ambitiously lofty, finding a way for Zauner to create another emotive and personal album even when she’s left a different narrator to take her place. Her work is built around the truths of her perspective, not just that each song and its themes resonate with her, but that every tragedy offers nuance to life. Zauner has given us her strongest album yet and so far, the best album of the year.
Photo by Peter Ash Lee
