Yesterday, Wilco‘s Jeff Tweedy did a low-key livestream where he ended up covering Japanese Breakfast‘s “Kokomo, IN,” from the just-released album Jubilee. Naturally, frontwoman Michelle Zauner was delighted, sharing the cover on her Twitter and writing, “I think my soul may have just left my body.” Can we call it now? Is this a Band-Mance? Whatever it is, it appears to be in full swing.
I think my soul may have just left my body https://t.co/r0XGVyJqJX
— Japanese Breakfast (@Jbrekkie) July 2, 2021
Anyway, it just so happens that Zauner is a big Tweedy fan, having covered “Jesus, Etc.” from Wilco’s classic 2001 album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot at Lollapalooza in 2019. “We learned this song especially for Chicago,” she told the crowd at the time, referencing Wilco’s hometown. “So hopefully we do a good job.”
If this is the start of a new Japanese Breakfast/Wilco collaboration effort, we’re here for it. In fact, the singer told Uproxx back in May how Jubilee was purposefully a more collaborative LP than her previous two, 2017’s Soft Sounds From Another Planet and 2016’s Psychopomp:
“I knew with this record I wanted to invite in more people. Some of that came from being on tour for the last three years, and getting to meet people like Adam Schatz, who plays saxophone and also has a network of horn players he brought in. And then Molly Germer, who still does all the violin on Alex G records. And she has her whole network of string players.”
Check out the rest of that interview here, and watch Jeff Tweedy covering Japanese Breakfast’s “Kokomo, IN” above.