At its best, live music is something more than a group of performers: when a band are dialling in their sound just right, the result can be something truly transformative. Japanese Breakfast’s catalogue is an impressive one, certainly, with records like ‘Jubilee’ and ‘Soft Sounds from Another Planet’ managing to capture the modern indie pop audience. Even still, the quality of those albums will do little to prepare you for just how captivating and stunning the group’s live show is: at the O2 Academy in Brixton, at least, Michelle Zauner and company had the entire venue spellbound.

Supporting act Minhwi Lee’s entrance had very little fanfare— compared to the impressive interior of the O2 Academy, the duo seemed to slink onto the stage. That really did fit the ensuing music though, as the event was kicked off with a series of understated, melancholic acoustic pieces. Each tune across the forty-five minute set was comprised simply of an acoustic guitar, a keyboard, and the voices of the two performers: as you might expect, the show was a highly intimate one, placing greater focus on atmosphere than on any kind of theatrics or visual spectacle. All ears were on Lee’s breathy vocals (performed in Korean), floating on top of these delicate arrangements: despite the deep sense of sorrow that choked the performance, the set was overflowing with tenderness and beauty.

The duo’s tracks had little in the way of hooks, or even definitive structures— these were mood pieces, carried by intriguing and evocative chord progressions. With that goal in mind, tracks like ‘Blue Flower’ and ‘The Station’ worked wonders, guiding the venue through feelings of heartbreak and despair. Granted, not all of the audience seemed quite so invested in the performance, with Lee even having to restart the last song after asking the standing crowd to keep the noise down— perhaps that came as a result of a certain sense of monotony coming from the performance, as Minhwi Lee did little to switch things up across the eight tracks played. If the set’s intimate atmosphere clicked for you though, then the opening act was a powerful statement, and an intriguing clue as to what was to come.

Given the minimalist nature of Japanese Breakfast’s latest album ‘For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women),’ it was surprising to see so many instruments and pieces of equipment littered around the stage for the band’s performance: the audience was treated to the talents of a number of different performers at the O2 academy, lending the show heaps of musical diversity. The band seemed incapable of finding a texture they couldn’t employ, finding ways to incorporate saxophones, violins, keyboards and synths, vocal samples and more alongside the traditional guitars, bass and drums that make up your typical indie pop outfit— the resulting soundscapes were nothing short of wondrous, immersing the venue in wave after wave of auditory ecstasy. From a musical standpoint, there’s simply no room for criticism— whether the focal point of a track was Michelle Zauner’s characterful (and perfectly on-pitch) vocals, one of many joyous Peter Bradley guitar solos or the crisp, immensely satisfying drum mix, what was undeniable was the sheer level of precision Japanese Breakfast had dialled their sound in with.

The show only lasted an hour and twenty minutes, but felt much more storied and eventful than that would imply— the band raced their way through a whopping twenty one tracks, with almost no downtime or talking to break up the show. The mystical musings of the group’s newest record made up a hefty chunk of the setlist, all of which sounded even more lush and bright in the live setting than they do in the studio: single ‘Orlando In Love’ was brought to life by those soaring string inclusions, while ‘Men In Bars’ marked a particularly high point for the soulful vocals of drummer Craig Hendrix. Those inclusions were to be expected: outside of tracks from ‘For Melacholy Brunettes (& sad women),’ Japanese Breakfast had a fair few tricks up their sleeves. ‘Jubilee’ and ‘Soft Sounds from Another Planet’ both received massively positive responses from the audience, with seemingly everyone in attendance singing along to cuts like ‘Kokomo, IN’ and ‘The Body Is a Blade’— even more incredible, though, was the live debut of ‘My Baby (Got Nothing At All),’ as well as the surprise performances of ‘Glider’ and ‘Till Death’ by request.

The band’s encore really brought the house down: the angelic notes of ‘Paprika,’ fan-favourite dance beats of ‘Be Sweet’ and ambitious playing of ‘Diving Woman’ were all striking choices, seeing the band earning their sky-themed staging. Japanese Breakfast continually built on every track they played, amping them up to newfound levels of emotion and momentum: Zauner could be seeing dancing around the stage again and again, reinforcing how climactic cuts like ‘Posing In Bondage’ and ‘Boyish’ could be. Even someone who wasn’t enamoured by the group’s studio outfit would surely have found the performance endearing— for the fans in the room, it was nothing short of breathtaking.

A massive thanks to Ryan Alvis for generously providing the above photos.