Dead Oceans Vinyl & CDs

Review: Michelle Zauner's music is lovely as ever on this, her fourth Japanese Breakfast album. Again, it's a thing of exciting beauty and big emotions, soft sounds and melancholic melodies. Harmonies that wrap us in thoughts of pure romance and falling head over heels, these sepia hued images cast from the memory bank of treasured moments made painful, then reflective and warming, by the passing of time. Clearly part of the loved and lost club, Zauner's songs almost feel effortless in their ability to invoke such tangible and raw feelings without really insisting on themselves. This is thoughtfulness with a capital T, set against a meandering backdrop of soft rock, indie balladry, and swooning string pop. As complex as it is easy to fathom - the unmistakable work of a human artist.

Review: Produced by Grammy winner Blake Mills, For Melancholy Brunettes sees Michelle Zauner move away from the bright energy of Jubilee to explore darker, more introspective themes. The album delves into the complex emotional landscape of melancholy, capturing the bittersweetness of desire and "the perilous pursuit of one's dreams." Reflecting on her transformative rise, which includes the success of Jubilee and Crying in H Mart, Zauner contemplates the dangers of longing and the consequences of unchecked ambition. The album's narrative unfolds through themes of temptation, regret and reflection and though that sounds heavy it culminates in a hopeful listen.

Review: Alongside Neon Indian and Washed Out, South Carolina-born singer, songwriter, record producer and graphic designer Toro Y Moi is often cited as a spearhead of the early-2010s chillwave resurgence that captivating the US before spreading to the UK through platforms such as BBC 6 Music. The bilingual moniker is almost as poetic as the music itself, which has always been thought provoking, to put it mildly. Hole Erth is the tenth studio album to come from this lackadaisical maestro, and lands two years after the critically acclaimed Mahal. Again, it's deep dive stuff you'd have to be mad or hard of hearing not to get lost in. A sumptuous feast of sounds which are as easy on the ear as they are poignant in the mind. Once again, it's pretty unmissable.