Japanese Breakfast - Soft Sounds from Another Planet

Japanese Breakfast's Soft Sounds from Another Planet wraps heartbreak and science fiction in shimmering indie rock that feels both cosmic and close to home.

Released in 2017 on Dead Oceans, Michelle Zauner's second album under the name widened the lens of her debut. Where that record sat in the aftermath of losing her mother, this one drifts between memory and fantasy, using outer space as a way to talk about loneliness, desire and the strange work of carrying on. Zauner co-produced it, and her growing confidence shows in every arrangement. The production is lush yet intimate, layering synths, saxophone and gauzy guitars around her clear, unguarded voice.

Opener "Diving Woman" stretches out over a hypnotic, krautrock-tinged groove before the guitars crest like waves. "Road Head" is a woozy, synth-laced lament, "Machinist" imagines a woman falling for a machine and rides a vocoder-heavy disco pulse, and "Boyish" swoons like a fifties prom ballad soaked in reverb and regret.

It is a record of soft edges and sudden jolts, and it sounds wonderful filling a quiet room late at night, the lights low and the volume up. Knowing where Zauner went next, from bestselling memoirist to indie-pop star, makes this one feel like the moment the rocket cleared the launchpad.