Japanese Breakfast channels the ups and downs of high school proms, crushes and the stirring feeling of falling in love in the newly-released music video for “Boyish.” Directed by Michelle Zauner herself — the frontwoman and brains behind Japanese Breakfast — the music video is an ode to moving on from unrequited love and onto self-acceptance and discovery.
“Boyish” is directed by Michelle Zauner and features Michelle Zauner, Alicia Clowe, Riley Buttery, Tina Ngo, Lindsey Jordan, Sara Chernikoff, Leslie Bear, Craig Hendrix and Peter Bradley.
Japanese Breakfast aka Michelle Zauner (featuring Long Beard’s Leslie Bear in the background) performing in bisexual lighting.
Awash in a fuzzy ’80s glow of neon and pastel lighting, and set in a high school gym, “Boyish” is a clear throwback to the good old days of falling in love and discovering yourself in high school. The prom setting is a classic one: balloons galore, couples dancing to a live band (Japanese Breakfast themselves — I’m green with envy) and silvery, gaudy streamers adorn the beautifully-shot music video, albeit with an added twist. The leading ladies steal the show in this high school prom while dressed to kill in suits. Think Pretty In Pink mashed up with Reservoir Dogs and a bit of Heathers for good measure.
As a girl who also pulled up to my senior prom in a suit, I couldn’t help but feel like this music video was about me. Now I’m wondering if Japanese Breakfast secretly research their fans’ lives.
If you’ve ever crushed on someone and then moved on (somehow), “Boyish” is the perfect music video to express just exactly that triumphant feeling of leaving behind all the unrequited crushes in your life, and instead, learn to love yourself and find your passion — rock music, in this case. With that (and if you’ve ever fallen in love with the lead singer of a rock band), you might find the lead of this music video incredibly relatable. She moved past that crush like he was dust, running toward the utterly holy Michelle Zauner (who is dressed in the most quirky space age-esque pink suit), proceeding to absolutely rock out.
I, too, would prefer to air-guitar alone in some corner instead of slow-dance with a prom date, who probably wouldn’t share my love for Japanese Breakfast.
Zauner had revealed on Instagram that the process for shooting the music video — like the composition of the song itself — had been a difficult and lengthy one, stating that the video had taken a year to make. Clearly, though, all that hard work paid off. I couldn’t imagine a more fitting music video to accompany one of my favorite tracks off Japanese Breakfast’s Soft Sounds From Another Planet.
The other music videos off the critically-acclaimed album have been directed by Zauner, as well, and show incredible promise of her directorial skills. No wonder the lead in the music video fell in love with her — who wouldn’t forget their boring ex-crush for an indie rock queen, music video director and fashion goddess all rolled into one?
Your high school dance will never be this cool.
The music video is exclusively available on Apple Music. Soft Sounds from Another Planet is available on iTunes, Spotify and Bandcamp. Japanese Breakfast are on tour in 2018 in North America and Europe. Tickets and dates are available here.
