Japanese Breakfast Celebrates "For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women)" with Sold-Out Shows at The Salt Shed

Grammy-nominated artist Michelle Zauner, known to fans as Japanese Breakfast, delivered a spellbinding performance at Chicago’s Salt Shed last night in support of her long-awaited fourth album, For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women). The album, produced by Grammy winner Blake Mills and recorded at the storied Sound City Studios in Los Angeles, marks Japanese Breakfast’s first full-length studio effort after a decade of lo-fi experimentation in unconventional spaces.

A striking pivot from the bright optimism of 2021’s Jubilee, Zauner’s latest work dives into the lush shadows of melancholy—described by the artist as “the psychic state of poets on the verge of inspiration.” The show at The Salt Shed reflected that shift in tone, offering fans an immersive, emotionally raw evening filled with moody textures, introspective lyricism, and gothic-romantic flourishes.

Zauner, whose memoir Crying in H Mart remains a New York Times bestseller, continues to cement her place as one of this generation’s most visionary voices in both music and literature. The For Melancholy Brunettes tour continues across North America before heading overseas this summer.

Photos by Steve Sym from Japanese Breakfast performance at The Salt Shed in Chicago on May 2, 2025.