Michelle Zauner aka Japanese Breakfast is building up to the release of Jubilee, undoubtedly one of the most hotly anticipated albums in the indie world this year. With “Be Sweet” and “Posing In Bondage” already out, today she gives us one final teaser ahead of the album’s release, “Savage Good Boy”. Zauner says:
“‘Savage Good Boy’ came from a headline I read about billionaires buying bunkers. I was interested in examining that specific type of villainy, and I found myself adopting the perspective of a rich man coaxing a young woman to come live with him underground, attempting to rationalize his almost impossible share of greed and miserliness.”
Considering the undercurrent of seediness in the themes of the song, “Savage Good Boy” is bright and poppy in its musicality. Bouncing forward on jaunty drums and wiggling bass, Zauner’s proclamations that “I want to make the money until there’s no more to be made” actually sounds quite sweet and loving. In a way, that’s just how these slippery characters would operate – all charm on the outside while the gears of greed grind on the inside.
The ideas are developed further in the self-directed video for “Savage Good Boy”, which stars The Sopranos star (and music lover) Michael Imperioli alongside Zauner. She says:
“I knew I wanted the music video to be a pretty literal interpretation of that idea. I wanted to juxtapose images of this post-apocalyptic, industrial bunker with the lightness and extravagance of rococo fashion and set design. Aiming for that balance, my cinematographer, Adam Kolodny, andI were really inspired by Chan Wook Park’s The Handmaiden, Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon and Sally Potter’s Orlando.”
Japanese Breakfast’s new album Jubilee comes out on June 4 via Dead Oceans (pre-order/save). You can find her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
