Japanese Breakfast is the creation of Michelle Zauner, lead singer from the indie rock band Little Big League. When she left Little Big League to spend time with her mother in Oregon during a fight with cancer, she gathered work to create a kind of low-fi album that winds up being part dream pop, and part the Sundays.

Zauner’s voice carries you through Psycopomp as she sings about loss, pain, and dependence. Her voice keeps you grounded in the seriousness against even the sunniest music on the album, and lifts you above the turbulence in the darkest.

Recommendation: Buy It

Songs I have a Playlist for: In Heaven, Jane Cum, Triple 7

Clunkers I will Thumbs Down: There aren’t any.