Japanese Breakfast : "For Melancholy Brunettes"

The new album from this indie rock act opens with a breezy folk ambiance, that has quaint psychedelic undertones. Not as poppy as I expected going into this. "Orlando in Love' continues this mood as it breezes by almost intangible with little to hook you in as if it's just the wind to your ears. More percussive elements finally appear on "Honey Water' to create the backbone needed here to anchor this into more of a song. This creates something closer to hooks making it a more worthwhile listen rather than faint sonic colors just held up by a wistful mood. 

Off the bat I can tell this album is not going to be dark enough to appeal to my musical interests, leaving me to listen to it for sheer composition and execution. In other words, are they at least doing a good job of making the kind of music that people into this sort of thing want to hear? "Mega Circut' finds things continuing to solidify sonically into a song that moves with direction and a beat to give it purpose. Nothing about the song grabs my ear to make me pay attention, but it seems to flow pretty well. 

Things are marginally less tangible and a little less upbeat for "Little Girl" though I am not sure I would refer to it as melancholic. "Leda" is fragile folk that does not work as well as "Picture Window" which is the album's best song so far, with more of a country feel that reminds me of Kacey Musgraves. "Winter in LA" retains some of the domesticated bong bliss from the previous song. It does not have the more organic country feel so was not as impressed, though it is better than the rather bland song that closes the album. I will give this album an 8, it sounds good, and there were a couple strong songs, but for my musical tastes it was boring and not depressive enough, however I am scoring in regards to how fans of this sort of thing my hear it's quality so with that an 8 seems fair. 

pst133