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CURRENT MOOD: Unwind with Japanese Breakfast’s Strep Throat playlist

Hear Katie Dey, Rosalía, Clairo, and more in Japanese Breakfast’s Strep Throat playlist.

July 23, 2019

In our Current Mood series, we ask some of our favourite artists to curate a playlist according to a specific theme or mood of their choice. For Current Mood #006, Philly songwriter and producer Japanese Breakfast shares a playlist of the songs that got her through a recent bout of strep throat. Listen to past Current Mood playlists here.

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Michelle Zauner has a gnarly tour schedule. It’s only July, and the Philly-based producer and songwriter who records as Japanese Breakfast already has dates lined up to take her through to the end of November; earlier this year, she toured for most of January and February, a good chunk of April, and nearly all of May and June. It’s a minor miracle that she gets it all done and still has the time to work on her memoir, Crying in H Mart. This all-or-nothing work ethic does create some casualties, though: after a week of continent-hopping earlier this year, Zauner found herself with a bout of strep throat.

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“After flying from Seoul>Calgary>SF>NY within a week for a series of very exciting shows and projects, I finally returned home to Philadelphia with a case of strep throat,” Zauner tells The FADER via email. “I’m almost happy I have it because a twisted part of me feels like I can finally relax, and grateful that my body pushed itself to its maximum limits before finally shutting down.”

Naturally, for her instalment in our CURRENT MOOD series, Zauner put together a selection of tracks that help her chill out and forget about work for a second. The 11-track playlist spans FADER favourites (including Summer 2019 cover stars Alex G and Rosalía,) indie legends (Bill Callahan, Katie Dey,) and newcomers like Clairo and Aldous Harding. Listen above, and, as Zauner says, “enjoy some much needed summer time off."