Michelle Zauner has shared the third and final single from the forthcoming Japanese Breakfast record Jubilee, out June 4 on Dead Oceans. “Savage Good Boy” arrives accompanied by a self-directed video starring Emmy-winning actor Michael Imperioli, best known as The Sopranos scene-stealer Christopher Moltisanti.
“‘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,” Zauner explains in a statement. “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.”
The result is as visually sumptuous and narratively sinister as you’d expect: Imperioli’s bunker billionaire leers possessively at and generally lords over Zauner’s kept woman as they dine on single gumdrops, watch something unseen on a projector, and play poker for stacks of cash, all while immaculately dressed. Like The Sopranos at its best, the video is a dark dream punctuated by shocking violence, complete with a sudden cut to black. “Savage Good Boy” itself is Zauner at her most clever and controlled, writing into the contradiction in the track’s title: “I want to make the money until there’s no more to be made / And we will be so wealthy I’m absolved from questioning,” she sings over bubbly drums, guitar and keys, later adding, “And as the last ones standing, we’ll be tasked to repopulate / And as you rear our children, know it’s the necessary strain / They’re the stakes in the race to live.” It’s a testament to Zauner’s songwriting that she can make stepping into such a ruthlessly rapacious mind so much fun.
“Savage Good Boy” follows March’s “Be Sweet” and April’s “Posing in Bondage.” Japanese Breakfast performed the former track on The Tonight Show shortly after its release, and more recently, Zauner appeared on The Daily Show to discuss both the band’s forthcoming album and her bestselling memoir, Crying In H Mart, out now.
Last but not least: Japanese Breakfast has expanded their summer and fall tours, which start July 28 in Asbury Park, New Jersey. You’ll find the rest of those dates down below, but first, watch the “Savage Good Boy” video.
Japanese Breakfast Tour Dates:
June
04 – Nashville, TN @ OUTLOUD Festival
July
28 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes
29 – Hamden, CT @ College Street Music Hall
30 – Jersey City, NJ @ White Eagle Hall
August
02 – Holyoke, MA @ Gateway City Arts
03 – Rochester, NY @ Anthology
04 – Detroit, MI @ Saint Andrew’s Hall
05 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre
07 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
28 – Lexington, KY @ Railbird Festival
September
14 – Columbus, OH @ The Athenaeum Theatre
11 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony (Shadow in the City) – SOLD OUT
14 – Columbus, OH @ The Athenaeum Theatre
15 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall – SOLD OUT
16 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall – SOLD OUT
17 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall
18 – Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre
19 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Ave
21 – Ogden, UT @ Ogden Twilight
23 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Festival
24 – Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall
25 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune – SOLD OUT
26 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune
27 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
28 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
30 – San Francisco, CA @ Regency
October
01 – San Francisco, CA @ Regency – SOLD OUT
02 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent – SOLD OUT
03 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent – SOLD OU
04 – San Diego, CA @ Observatory North Park – SOLD OUT
05 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl
07 – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf
08 – Denver, CO @ Ogden
09 – Lawrence, KC @ Granada
10 – St Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall
11 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
16 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
