The word melancholy originated as a way to describe a state of deep sadness and introspection, where despair lives for no particular reason at all – such a place where poets and artists have long enjoyed living. Singer Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast, found the title of her new album ‘For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) in a short story by John Cheever, and thought the tongue in cheek humour of the idea was appealing. After all most female indie singers and their fans are stereotyped this way, so why not have a little fun with it?
Musically this album feels like an answer to melancholy, a way to comfort those who have accepted the weary sadness of life. Every song is drenched in beauty. Her voice has a sweetness to it which lifts and lightens. Opener ‘Here is Someone’ has a dreamy fragility to it, an open hearted wonder that concludes ‘Life is sad / but here is someone’.
From there is the Virginia Woolf inspired ‘Orlando in Love’, where she sings a bewitching metaphor about the tragic consequences of dreaming a woman into life. The imagery, the beauty of the song feel otherworldly, bringing folk mythology into musical life.
The poetry and literary references on the album continue with the Emily Brontë quoting ‘Honey Water’. Here the song muses on the question ‘Why can’t you be faithful?’ – no easy answer comes and she’s left to turn inwards, ‘I dream about leaving / but no coward soul is mine.’
‘Little Girl’ and ‘Leda’ are stripped back, offering some devastating details about dealing with the distressing behaviour of others.
Country music has always offered melancholy for the masses. Both ‘Picture Window’ and ‘Men in Bars’ explore this musical avenue with strong results. Jeff Bridges even appears as a duet partner on the latter, a song about finding escape in the honky tonks. At first his appearance seems oddly out of place but somehow that incongruity makes it work.
‘Winter in LA’ is the most gorgeous song on here, imagining what it might be like to be one of those women – blond, sun kissed, happy, writing love songs. Really it does sound lovely, but in the sadness of this song she knows living this way is a futile dream.
The album finishes on ‘Magic Mountain’, a beautiful song about returning home, finding peace, a ‘rest cure’ with ‘you and me, and ours’.
Gather round all ye sad women and find a partner in your sorrow’s mysteries. These Odes to Melancholy are the home you need. Dwell in the light here.
BUY: https://michellezauner.bandcamp.com/album/for-melancholy-brunettes-sad-women
Highway Queens 
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