“The title Soft Sounds From Another Planet alludes to the promise of something that may or may not be there. Like a hope in something more. The songs are about human resilience and the strength it takes to claw out of the darkest of spaces.”
Michelle Zauner wrote the debut Japanese Breakfast album in the weeks after her mother died of cancer, thinking she would quit music entirely once it was done. That wasn’t the case. When Psychopomp was released to acclaim in 2016, she was forced to confront her grief. Zauner would find find herself reliving traumatic memories multiple times a day during interviews, trying to remain composed while discussing the most painful experience of her life. Her sophomore album, Soft Sounds From Another Planet, is a transmutation of mourning, a reflection that turns back on the cosmos in search of healing.
And yet, Soft Sounds From Another Planet isn’t a concept album. Over the course of 12 tracks, Zauner explores an expansive thematic universe, a cohesive outpouring of unlike parts structured to create a galaxy of her own design.
“Your body is a blade that moves while your brain is writhing,” she sings. “Knuckled under pain you mourn but your blood is flowing.” There’s discernible pain in the phrasing, Zauner recognizing limitation, a lack of control, but then subverting the feeling, creating her own musical language for confronting trauma. Where Psychopomp introduced the world to Japanese Breakfast, Soft Sounds dives deeper. It builds space where there is none, and suggests that in the face of tragedy, we find ways to keep on living.
Supporting Acts: Fellow Philadelphian music makers the Spirit of the Beehive and Mannequin Pussy will be opening for the night.
Mannequin Pussy
Led by frontwoman Marisa Dabice, Mannequin Pussy delivers punk energy through sharp shoegazing sound in an effortless way. The lyrics reflect constant struggles in life to which anyone can relate, and provides comfort for frustrated souls. “Pick yourself up, baby, everything’s gonna be fine, but if not, so what?”, sings the Mannequin Pussy. In this time of turmoil, who don't need a voice like this to help release the angst and heal the wounds?
The Spirit of the Beehive
The Beehive is back to drag us further down into the murky abyss.
