Last night, Japanese Breakfast offered a performance for the ages on Jimmy Kimmel Live, playing Jubilee single “Paprika” from the Sellersville Theater in Pennsylvania.
Backed by horns and banging a gong, band leader Michelle Zauner wore a billowing white dress with her hair tied back into two slick braids. The rest of the band were in formal attire as well, rocking full tuxes and playing all manner of instruments: strings, keys, percussion, the aforementioned horns. The pale spotlight onstage also created a gauzy, sepia-toned look for the camera, which complimented “Paprika”‘s lighthearted melody. Check out the performance above, introduced by guest host Wanda Sykes.
It’s probably safe to say that Zauner is exceedingly close to becoming a massive pop cultural triple-threat right now, what with the glowing reviews for Jubilee, plus her New York Times bestselling memoir Crying In H Mart, which is going to be adapted into a film, for which Japanese Breakfast will provide the soundtrack. As if that wasn’t enough, Zauner is behind the soundtrack of the anticipated new game Sable, coming September 23. So yes, 2021 is a pretty good year to be Michelle Zauner.
Check out our interview with Zauner about her new album here, as well as our more recent interview about her video game endeavors here.
Jubilee is out now on Dead Oceans. Get it here.