New Japanese Breakfast: Watch “Savage Good Boy,” ft. Michael Imperioli from ‘The Sopranos’ (Also: Tour Dates)

“Savage Good Boy” is the name of another new song from Japanese Breakfast, a.k.a. singer/songwriter/author Michelle Zauner. It’s a preview of her upcoming album, Jubilee, which will be released on June 4 via Dead Oceans, and the stylish new video features a guest spot from Michael Imperioli, best known for portraying Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos.

Imperioli (who, we must point out, released a great album with his band, Zopa, back in August) plays a send-up of a villainous billionaire type, and the video’s rather entertaining:

Explained Zauner of the song and video treatment, in a statement: “‘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,” says Zauner. “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, and I were really inspired by Chan Wook Park’s The Handmaiden, Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon and Sally Potter’s Orlando.”

Click here to pre-order Jubilee on CD from our Rock Cellar Store
Click here to pre-order Jubilee on LP from our Rock Cellar Store

As she has been doing thus far in the Jubilee album cycle, this music video ties in as a prequel, of sorts, to the previously debuted “Posing in Bondage,” which featured Zauner rolling into a convenience store, bloodied, with little explanation:

The first song shared from the record, “Be Sweet,” is an ’80s-inspired slice of indie/pop with a fun music video paying homage to The X-Files:

Separate from the album news, Zauner released her long-awaited book based on her viral 2018 New Yorker essay, Crying In H Mart, in late April. The memoir, about “growing up Korean American, losing her mother, and forging her own identity,” debuted to rapturous acclaim.

Japanese Breakfast has also expanded a string of fall tour dates due to numerous sellouts in big markets and increasing attention given to Zauner for her various projects. The new dates:

6/4 – Nashville, TN @ OUTLOUD Festival
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 ^
7/28 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes ^
7/29 – Hamden, CT @ College Street Music Hall ^
7/30 – Jersey City, NJ @ White Eagle Hall ^
8/2 – Holyoke, MA @ Gateway City Arts ^
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 ^
8/28 – Lexington, KY @ Railbird Festival
9/10 – Boston, MA @ Royale *
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 *
9/27 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre *
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 *
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 *
10/12 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
10/15 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel *
10/16 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel * – SOLD OUT
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/ Luna Li

Jubilee features ten new songs from Japanese Breakfast, and as evidenced by that quote above, its focus is on the positive. After all, the word “jubilee” is defined as “the celebration of a passage of time.” Her first two albums, conversely, were borne out of grief — Psychopomp came about as her mother underwent treatment for cancer, while Soft Sounds From Another Planet was rooted in her mother’s death and the grief she felt over her loss.