We love a good Japanese Breakfast cover, and goodness knows Michelle Zauner has churned out her share of them. Recently, Zauner offered a take on Dolly Parton’s “Here You Come Again,” and before that, we’ve heard JBrekkie renditions of Tears For Fears’ “Head Over Heels,” The Cardigans’ “Lovefool,” Wilco’s “Jesus, Etc,” and The Mamas & The Papas’ “California Dreamin,’” among others. Now, Zauner has reimagined Sufjan Stevens‘ 2003 song “Romulus,” which memorably showed up on Michigan.
Appearing on SiriusXMU, Zauner did a beautiful job reinterpreting Stevens’ classic track, adding in soothing strings. In the past, Zauner has spoken about how Stevens’ landmark 2015 album Carrie & Lowell comforted her as she mourned the passing of her mother. “I’d always loved Sufjan Stevens’ albums but that one slipped by me. I actually started listening to it a few months ago and it really hit home for me,” she told The Line Of Best Fit in 2016. “Not only because it was about losing his mother but also because it was largely set in a very small town in the Pacific Northwest where I grew up. So it seems very serendipitous, I guess, to come across that record at this time in my life.”
Listen to Japanese Breakfast cover “Romulus” above.