Japanese Breakfast Performs “Paprika” on ‘Kimmel,’ Adds Tour Dates to Sold-Out Fall 2021 Run

It’s been a big few months for Japanese Breakfast, the indie project alter ego of singer/songwriter/author Michelle Zauner. Zauner released a new album, Jubilee, in early June, and it’s one of the year’s strongest efforts.

“Paprika” opens the album with surreal lyrics from Zauner recounting an odd dream:

Lucidity came slowly
I awoke from dreams of untying a great knot
It unraveled like a braid into what seemed were thousands
Of separate strands of fishing line
Attached to coarse behavior, it flowed
A calm it urged, what else is here?

Earlier this week, Japanese Breakfast performed the track for Jimmy Kimmel Live!:

Her third album to date, Jubilee draws its name from Zauner’s concerted focus toward celebrating “the passage of time,” contrasting with her earlier records that focused on grief and existentialism, based on large part on her mother’s fight with cancer (and, later, her passing).

“Now, at the start of a new decade, Japanese Breakfast is ready to fight for happiness, an all-too-scarce resource in our seemingly crumbling world,” reads a press release, and such themes are at play throughout the record.

Click here to pick up Jubilee on CD from our Rock Cellar Store
Click here to pick up Jubilee on LP from our Rock Cellar Store

Zauner and the band have a busy few months ahead, with a series of sold-out tour dates on tap. The shows come with heightened anticipation, because of the accolades given to Jubilee and Crying in H Mart, Zauner’s New York Times best-selling memoir that was published in April and is already being planned for a big-screen adaptation from MGM’s Orion Pictures.

All this to say: Japanese Breakfast is only growing in scale, and you’d best start paying attention if you weren’t already.

Here’s the updated tour schedule:

7/21 – Silver Spring, MD @ The Filmore ^
7/22 – Richmond, VA @ The National ^
7/23 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel ^
7/24 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade ^
7/25 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn ^
7/26 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle ^ – SOLD OUT
7/28 – New Haven, CT @ Westville Music Bowl +
7/29 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes ^ – SOLD OUT
7/30 – Jersey City, NJ @ White Eagle Hall ^ – SOLD OUT
7/31 – Omaha, NE @ MAHA Music Festival
8/2 – Holyoke, MA @ Gateway City Arts ^ – SOLD OUT
8/3 – Rochester, NY @ Anthology ^
8/4 – Detroit, MI @ Saint Andrew’s Hall ^
8/5 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre ^
8/6 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer ^ – SOLD OUT
8/7 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer ^ – SOLD OUT
8/8 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer ^ – SOLD OUT
8/10 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer ~ – SOLD OUT
8/11 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer ~
8/28 – Lexington, KY @ Railbird Festival
9/9 – Boston, MA @ Royale *
9/10 – Boston, MA @ Royale * – SOLD OUT
9/11 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony Summer Stage – SOLD OUT
9/12 – Harrisburg, PA @ Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center *
9/14 – Columbus, OH @ The Athenaeum Theatre *
9/15 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall * – SOLD OUT
9/16 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall * – SOLD OUT
9/17 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall *
9/18 – Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre *
9/19 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Ave *
9/21 – Ogden, UT @ Ogden Twilight * – SOLD OUT
9/23 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Festival
9/24 – Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall *
9/25 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune * – SOLD OUT
9/26 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune * – SOLD OUT
9/27 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune *
9/28 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom *
9/30 – San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom *
10/1 – San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom – SOLD OUT
10/2 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent – SOLD OUT
10/3 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent – SOLD OUT
10/4 – San Diego, CA @ Observatory North Park *
10/5 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl *
10/7 – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf * – SOLD OUT
10/8 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theater *
10/9 – Lawrence, KC @ Granada Theater *
10/10 – St Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall *
10/11 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall * – SOLD OUT
10/12 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
10/14 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel *
10/15 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel * -SOLD OUT
10/16 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel * – SOLD OUT
10/17 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel *
10/30 Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
10/31 Austin, TX @ Levitation 2021
11/3 Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress (Outdoor Plaza)
11/4 Tempe, AZ @ Sun Devil Stadium (Coca-Cola Sun Deck)
11/7 Berkeley, CA @ The UC Theatre
11/9 Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
11/11 Sonoma, CA @ Gundlach Bundschu Winery
11/12 San Luis Obispo, CA @ Madonna Inn
11/13 Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst
11/15 Pomona, CA @ The Glass House – SOLD OUT
11/16 Pomona, CA @ The Glass House
3/25 – Bristol @ SXW
3/26 – Manchester @ Academy 2
3/27 – Glasgow @ St. Luke’s
3/28 – Leeds @ Brudenell Community Room
3/30 – London @ Kentish Town Forum

^ w/ Mannequin Pussy

+ w/ Bright Eyes & Lucy Dacus

* w/ Luna Li

~ w/ Spirit of the Beehive