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 re-released internationally through Dead Oceans on August 19, 2016.
Background
Michelle Zauner fronted the Philadelphian emo band Little Big League from 2011 until 2014, when she returned to her hometown of Eugene, Oregon, where her mother had been diagnosed with cancer.
While tending to her family in Oregon, Zauner began recording solo music as a self-meditative and "instant-gratification" feeling and because she found she had more to say after Tropical Jinx, the 2014 studio album by Little Big League. The work led to Psychopomp, published under her project Japanese Breakfast. Zauner said she chose the name "Japanese Breakfast" to juxtapose Asian exoticism and American culture. Psychopomp is named after the creature of the same name which Zauner learned about in an essay by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung.
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.
Zauner, whose mother was Korean and her father American Jewish, has said she hopes that her work can help persuade more Asian Americans to get involved in music.
Release and promotion
The album's rollout saw the release of three singles: "In Heaven," "Everybody Wants To Love You" and "The Woman That Loves You. "In Heaven," was released on January 20, 2016 and premiered via Stereogum as the album's lead single. "Everybody Wants to Love You" and "The Woman That Loves You" were released on February 18 and March 8 respectively. The latter track was premiered via The Fader. The album itself was released on April 1, 2016 in the US. After Japanese Breakfast signed to the record label Dead Oceans, Psychopomp was re-released internationally, both of on August 19, 2016.
Promotion
To promote the album, Zauner opened for Japanese-American singer-songwriter Mitski alongside American singer Jay Som. Later the same year, she performed in the UK to promote Psychopomp's then upcoming international re-release. Following these performances, Zauner toured with American band Porches in a joint tour to promote their respective albums.
Composition
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."