At this Sunday’ss Grammy Awards, Japanese Breakfast will be up for two awards: Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album for Jubilee. The album also topped the 2021 Uproxx Music Critics Poll, which isn’t quite a Grammy Award, but still, it’s been a heckuva year+ for Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner, who also released the best-selling book Crying In H Mart. Now ahead of the Grammy Awards, Japanese Breakfast has released a pair of tracks for the Spotify Singles Series, including a cover of Bon Iver’s classic cut, “Skinny Love.”
The “Skinny Love” cover is part of Spotify’s ongoing series of releases from artists in the Grammy Best New Artist category. Arlo Parks released a cover of Kaytranada and Syd’s “You’re The One” earlier this week and Finneas covered also covered a Bon Iver song earlier this month, in “Flume.” For the “Skinny Love” cover, Japanese Breakfast peels back their typical arrangements for a twangy take on the Justin Vernon-led classic. “We decided to record Bon Iver’s ‘Skinny Love’ because it felt like a very surprising cover for Japanese Breakfast,” Zauner said. “It’s so moving and sparse. We felt we could add some interesting instrumentation to the track and celebrate our fellow label mate Bon Iver.” A revamped version of Japanese Breakfast’s “Be Sweet” was also released, with a slight disco-lean and tweaked vocal arrangements.
Listen to Japanese Breakfast’s “Skinny Love” cover and “Be Sweet” above.