On Japanese Breakfast’s melancholic record, Michelle Zauner might be ‘the happiest’ she’s ever been

It must have felt like fate to have a record you titled Jubilee be as celebrated as much as Japanese Breakfast ‘s third album was in 2021.

From the outside looking in, frontwoman Michelle Zauner was having the kind of year most indie musicians can only dream of: a record acclaimed by critics and fans alike, plus a bestselling memoir called Crying in H Mart.

Now, on the heels of a new album called For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women), the reality of Japanese Breakfast’s breakout year becomes clearer.

“It’s kind of ironic,” Zauner says. “I was kind of miserable on the Jubilee tour — this joyous record — because it was such a grind. And on this record, I feel so at peace and so comfortable and just really happy … Funny enough, on the melancholic record, I’m maybe the happiest I’