Japanese Breakfast, the project of musician and author Michelle Zauner, is a few weeks way from releasing her album Jubilee. Now offering a prequel to her “Posed In Bondage” visual, which saw her walking around a dystopian super market covered in blood, Zauner shares a video to her song “Savage Good Boy.”
The new visual depicts her alongside The Sopranos actor Michael Imperioli. Zauner is trapped in a bunker with Imperioli and eventually takes matters into her own hands. Speaking about the visual’s concept, Zauner said she was inspired by an article about rich people purchasing bunkers to prepare for an apocalyptic world:
“‘Savage Good Boy’ came from a headline I read about billionaires buying bunkers. I was interested in examining that specific type of villainy, and I found myself adopting the perspective of a rich man coaxing a young woman to come live with him underground, attempting to rationalize his almost impossible share of greed and miserliness. I knew I wanted the music video to be a pretty literal interpretation of that idea. I wanted to juxtapose images of this post-apocalyptic, industrial bunker with the lightness and extravagance of rococo fashion and set design. Aiming for that balance, my cinematographer, Adam Kolodny, and I were really inspired by Chan Wook Park’s The Handmaiden, Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon and Sally Potter’s Orlando.”
Ahead of the visual’s release, Zauner spoke to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe about the new direction her music is taking on Jubilee, saying, “I think because my first two records were so rooted in grief and loss and losing my mom, and then I wrote an entire book about that experience, I felt really ready to start a new chapter of my life and fling myself to the other end of the spectrum and write about this whole other part of the human experience, which is joy. And I also thought it was a real challenge for a sad indie girl to take on joy as a theme. And so Jubilee to me is about a year of release, a trumpet blast of victory. And so I wanted to write a record about embracing feelings.”
Listen to “Savage Good Boy” above and find Japanese Breakfast’s 2021-2022 North American tour dates below.
06/04/2021 — Nashville, TN @ OUTLOUD Festival
07/21/2021 — Silver Spring, MD @ The Filmore ^
07/22/2021 — Richmond, VA @ The National ^
07/23/2021 — Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel ^
07/24/2021 — Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade ^
07/25/2021 — Birmingham, AL @ Saturn ^
07/26/2021 — Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle ^
07/28/2021 — Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes ^
07/29/2021 — Hamden, CT @ College Street Music Hall ^
07/30/2021 — Jersey City, NJ @ White Eagle Hall ^
08/02/2021 — Holyoke, MA @ Gateway City Arts ^
08/03/2021 — Rochester, NY @ Anthology ^
08/04/2021 — Detroit, MI @ Saint Andrew’s Hall ^
08/05/2021 — Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre ^
08/06/2021 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer ^
08/07/2021 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer ^
08/08/2021 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer ^
08/28/2021 — Lexington, KY @ Railbird Festival
09/10/2021 — Boston, MA @ Royale *
09/11/2021 — Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony Summer Stage
09/12/2021 — Harrisburg, PA @ Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center *
09/14/2021 — Columbus, OH @ The Athenaeum Theatre *
09/15/2021 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
09/16/2021 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
09/17/2021 — Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall *
09/18/2021 — Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre *
09/19/2021 — Minneapolis, MN @ First Ave *
09/21/2021 — Ogden, UT @ Ogden Twilight *
09/23/2021 — Boise, ID @ Treefort Festival
09/24/2021 — Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall *
09/25/2021 — Seattle, WA @ Neptune *
09/26/2021 — Seattle, WA @ Neptune *
09/27/2021 — Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre *
09/28/2021 — Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom *
09/30/2021 — San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom *
10/01/2021 — San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom
10/02/2021 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent
10/03/2021 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent
10/04/2021 — San Diego, CA @ Observatory North Park *
10/05/2021 — Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl *
10/07/2021 — Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf *
10/08/2021 — Denver, CO @ Ogden Theater *
10/09/2021 — Lawrence, KC @ Granada Theater *
10/10/2021 — St Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall *
10/11/2021 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
10/12/2021 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
10/15/2021 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel *
10/16/2021 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel *
03/25/2022 — Bristol @ SXW
03/26/2022 — Manchester @ Academy 2
03/27/2022 — Glasgow @ St. Luke’s
03/28/2022 — Leeds @ Brudenell Community Room
03/30/2022 — London @ Kentish Town Forum
^ with Mannequin Pussy
* with Luna Li
Jubilee is out 6/4 via Dead Oceans. Pre-order it here.