Japanese Breakfast Releases Heartwarming Video for “The Body Is A Blade”

The brilliant Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast again takes on the duty of director to create her latest video for “The Body Is A Blade,” with the help of cinematographer Adam Kolodny. For this one, she aimed for nostalgia and hit the bullseye: Vintage-tinged shots of Zauner are laced with old family photos of herself and her parents, creating a stunningly poignant clip. She visits the same places depicted in the photos, juxtaposing the past with the present.

“I’ve always loved the way old photographs look. For this video I spent a lot of time searching family albums for sets of old photographs to animate,” Zauner says of the video’s making. “I wanted this video to commemorate my mother who died three years ago today. […] It felt fitting for the song to create a really personal mixed media piece, almost like a moving scrapbook.’‘

The lighthearted video brings comfort to lyrics about grieving: “The body is a blade that moves while your brain is writhing,” she sings. “Knuckled under pain you mourn but your blood is flowing.” Ambling guitar strums and swirling synths move the song forward, backing Zauner’s delicate vocals.

Japanese Breakfast is gearing up for a series of tour dates in Europe, and come 2018, she will be playing shows along the West Coast with Jay Som and Hand Habits. See her newly announced dates below (previously announced dates here) underneath the video for “The Body Is A Blade,” revisit her previous videos for “Machinist” and “Road Head,” read our review of her latest album Soft Sounds From Another Planet right here and check out the videogame she made (Japanese Breakquest!) here.

Japanese Breakfast 2018 Tour Dates:

February
15 – Seattle, Wash. @ Neumos ^
16 – Vancouver, B.C. @ Biltmore ^
17 – Portland, Ore. @ Crystal Ballroom (Sabertooth Festival) ^
19 – Reno, Nev. @ Holland Project ^
23 – Fresno, Calif. @ Strummer’s ^
24 – Pomona, Calif. @ The Glasshouse ^

(^ – with Jay Som and Hand Habits)