Japanese Breakfast names her favourite Elliott Smith album
For musicians in Oregon, Elliott Smith haunts the town like a kind of messiah. His influence has been felt across the scene ever since his name as an artist in the 1990s. For Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast, who grew up in the area, it’s no wonder that Smith became an enduring inspiration.
“I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and Elliott Smith was a huge influence on me and all of my friends growing up when I was in high school,” she told Tidal. From when she first started performing in bands at age 15, Zauner’s sound was undeniably impacted by the Oregon scene and the nearby scenes in Portland or Seattle. The northwestern sound was a pioneering force in the worlds of grunge, alternative rock and indie, directly feeding into the music that Zauner would go on to make.
In particular, it was Smith’s album XO that caught her attention and stayed as a firm favourite. “I think XO is probably one of the first albums of his that I really fell in love with,” she said. It’s Smith’s songwriting that appeals to her most, with his unique ability to not only articulate feelings in words but write them into music, too. “He’s another amazing writer and arranger of music,” she explained.
Zauner isn’t the only modern musical leader who cites Smith as a major influence. Phoebe Bridgers has talked time and time again about the impact he had on her, citing him as her favourite artist and idol. “It’s like The Beatles to me, and I mean that in every way,” she once said of Smith, holding him up as the ultimate musician in her eyes.
While Zauner and Bridgers make different music sonically, with Japanese Breakfast leaning more towards indie pop or shoegaze, while Bridgers embodies a merge of rock, folk and grunge. The cross over between the two perfectly captures Smith’s influence.
“I feel like he has these really great pop songs and wonderful arrangements and really sad and deep lyrics that I really connected to,” Zauner explained. That ability to tackle sad and sombre subjects while still creating a hooking and enjoyable song is something that Smith had mastered and is clearly something that both Zauner, Bridgers and all his other disciples look to him for guidance and inspiration.
XO, especially, is packed full of that. ‘Waltz #2’ tackles family trauma and difficult relationships on a danceable track about karaoke. ‘Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands’ recounts his experience in rehab in a classic rock song. ‘Sweet Adeline’ deals with grief and remembrance with a tender, soft edge. Across each song, difficult feelings of love, loss, grief and mental illness are sung over the top of expertly crafted indie rock songs with real musical flair and intrigue.
When it comes to making a sad song a great song still, there really is no better example than Smith. So a youth spent listening to XO gave Zauner a perfect musical education, ready for her own contemplations on grief, belonging and heartache in her own work.
