Psychopomp (album)
| Psychopomp | ||||
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| Studio album by Japanese Breakfast | ||||
| Released | April 1, 2016 | |||
| Recorded | 2014–2015 | |||
| Studio | CR Ensemble; Eugene, Oregon, U.S. | |||
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| Length | 25:11 | |||
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| Japanese Breakfast chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 76/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    |
| Consequence of Sound | B |
| Pitchfork | 7.9/10 |
| PopMatters |   |
| Spin | 7/10 |
Psychopomp is the debut studio album by Japanese Breakfast, the solo musical project of Michelle Zauner of Little Big League. The album was released in the U.S. through Yellow K Records on April 1, 2016, and internationally through Dead Oceans on September 19, 2016.
Prior to her solo project, Michelle Zauner fronted the Philadelphian emo band, Little Big League. Zauner fronted the band between 2011 and 2014, before returning to her hometown of Eugene, Oregon in 2013. Zauner made the trek back home in the wake of her mother being diagnosed with cancer.
While at home, tending her family in Oregon, Zauner began recording solo music. Zauner described the project as having much more to say following Tropical Jinx, the 2014 studio album by Little Big League. Originally, Zauner had begun to record early samples of music as a self-meditative and "instant-gratification" feeling. Two years later, the solo project itself eventually became the work of Psychopomp the debut album by Japanese Breakfast. The name of the band, according to Zauner is a juxtaposition of Asian exoticism and American culture. Despite the name, Zauner is not of Japanese descent, but Korean descent.
Zauner described the debut album as quite "dark and heavy-handed", although she had a desire to make the music, urgent and "sonically upbeat." In the album she discusses regret of not being there with her mother and her decision to get married before her mother went into a coma. She hopes that her work can help expose more Asian-Americans to be involved in music.
Psychopomp is a dream pop,indie pop and lo-fi album. According to AllMusic's Tim Sendra, "the album has all the hallmarks of a homemade lo-fi album, but also has the feel of a wobbly '80s pop album played on a long-lost cassette." Sendra also wrote that the album's sound shifts between "guitar-lashed indie rock with swooping synths ("Rugged Country"), melancholy ballads played on tear-stained keys ("Jane Cum," "Triple 7"), driving pop/rock with pumped-up hooks ("Everybody Wants to Love You"), and bass-heavy, almost painfully heartfelt indie rock ("Heft")". Nina Corcocan of Consequence of Sound wrote: "It's lo-fi heart with detailed production, the type of pop that feels homey and familiar — which is doubly surprising given Zauner’s other band, Little Big League, is full of jock riffs and chunky guitar rock."PopMatters' Jasper Bruce thought that the album serves "cocktails of electronic, garage rock and lyrical vocals."
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