Japanese Breakfast has teamed up with Spotify to cover Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love” for the Spotify Singles series, which features artists re-recording one of their own songs, as well as a song by a past Best New Artist Grammy nominee.
Japanese Breakfast is nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy at this coming Sunday’s ceremony, while Bon Iver won the category in 2012.
“We decided to record Bon Iver’s ‘Skinny Love’ because it felt like a very surprising cover for Japanese Breakfast,” says frontwoman Michelle Zauner in a statement. “It’s so moving and sparse. We felt we could add some interesting instrumentation to the track and celebrate our fellow label mate Bon Iver.”
For their own single, Japanese Breakfast chose their hit “Be Sweet,” which peaked at #7 on the Billboard Adult Alternative Airplay chart in August of last year. Their most recent single, “Slide Tackle,” currently sits at #16 after eight weeks on the same chart.
Japanese Breakfast also scored a Best Alternative Music Album nod at the Grammys, with fellow nominees that include St. Vincent's Daddy's Home, Halsey's If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power, Fleet Foxes' Shore, and Arlo Parks's Collapsed in Sunbeams.
Win or lose, Japanese Breakfast has a busy year ahead of them. They kick off their U.S. tour April 5 in Athens, OH, with stops at Coachella, Governors Ball, Bonnaroo, Pitchfork Music Festival, Shaky Knees, Boston Calling and more. They’re also opening a few dates for Florence + The Machine on their world tour, which kicks off April 15.