Japanese Breakfast Releases 'Head Over Heels'

Today, W Records, an imprint from W Hotels Worldwide, has released a cover of Tears for Fears' "Head Over Heels," by Japanese Breakfast (Michelle Zauner, a Dead Oceans recording artist). Japanese Breakfast joins fellow W Records performers Amber Mark, Perfume Genius and Roosevelt, rounding out the inaugural class of W Records. "Japanese Breakfast has recorded a beautiful, ethereal reimagining of 'Head Over Heels'," said Curt Smith co-founder of Tears For Fears.

Last month, Zauner released the first of her two singles for W Records, an original song titled "Essentially." "'Essentially' is a spacey, yet danceable thumper that finds Zauner demanding the kind of love that makes everything-and everyone-else seem trivial by comparison, like looking down on a crowd from a great height," said Paste Magazine. Both tracks were recorded in the W Sound Suite at W Bali - Seminyak. Fans recently enjoyed a Japanese Breakfast performance at W Taipei on May 25th. A mini-doc about the collaboration was partially filmed at W Philadelphia, slated to open in 2020.

W Records will be reaching beyond music to support a cause that's important to both W Hotels and the artist. A portion of the proceeds from the streaming of both Japanese Breakfast tracks will benefit the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

With the release of her sophomore album Soft Sounds From Another Planet, Japanese Breakfast's Michelle Zauner expanded the breadth of the shimmering bedroom pop displayed on her debut Psychopomp. Her voice and vision came clearer into focus as she used the extended metaphor of outer space to observe the pain that defined the first part of her career. Full of gleaming guitars and haunting electronics, "Soft Sounds" earned critical acclaim and new fans around the world, quickly making Japanese Breakfast a household name among the indie rock contingent.

"Working with Japanese Breakfast on this track has been an incredible experience - collaborating with a passionate musician to support an important organization has really been rewarding," said Anthony Ingham, Global Brand Leader, W Hotels Worldwide. "W Records has always been about inspiring musicians to get creative and it's been amazing to see Japanese Breakfast's journey and exploration with us at W. We are excited for the world to hear her rendition of 'Head Over Heels' and help support the work of the ACLU."

Much of 2018 saw Zauner on the road, further honing her live show and performing for massive audiences. All the while, she kept busy-not only as Japanese Breakfast, but as Michelle Zauner: video game composer, prolific music video director, and author. Fans eager for new music from Zauner were pleasantly surprised in summer 2018, when she revealed "Glider" in the E3 announcement trailer for the breathtaking new adventure video game Sable. Drawing from her years of songwriting experience while making new explorations into creating ambient and experimental music, she composed the entire soundtrack for the highly-anticipated indie game, which is due out early 2020. Zauner is also well underway making a name for herself as a sought-after director, working with longtime collaborator Adam Kolodny to craft music videos for other artists such as Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst, Jay Som and Charly Bliss. Between tours, studio sessions, and video shoots, Zauner has long been working on a memoir of her early childhood, time spent between the U.S. and South Korea, and the split heritage that has shaped so much of her life. An excerpt from that book, "Crying in H-Mart," was published in The New Yorker at the end of 2018. The full book, also titled Crying in H-Mart, will be released via Knopf. With this track release, Zauner adds yet another exciting update to her ever-growing resume of creative projects as the last W Records artist to join the label in its debut year.