Japanese Breakfast (aka Michelle Zauner) has shared a cover of Yoko Ono’s 1981 track “Nobody Sees Me Like You Do,” landing as the latest preview for the upcoming tribute album “Ocean Child.”
Originally appearing on ‘Season Of Glass’ – Ono’s fifth studio album, and her first solo effort after the murder of her husband John Lennon in 1980 – Zauner’s version of the song trades its dense, blossoming soundscape for a production crisp spatiality carried by clear piano chords and his own soaring voice.
Check out the lyric video of Japanese Breakfast’s rendition of “Nobody Sees Me Like You Do”:
‘Ocean Child: Songs Of Yoko Ono’ will be released on February 18 via Canvasback Music/Atlantic. Hosted by Death Cab For Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard, it features 14 new versions of Ono’s tracks performed by a range of artists.
David Byrne and Yo La Tengo, for example, collaboratively covered “Who Has Seen The Wind?”, shared earlier this month as the album’s lead single.
Elsewhere on the album are covers from Deerhoof and The Flaming Lips, both of whom have previously collaborated with Ono, as well as contributions from Sharon Van Etten, Jay Som, US Girls, Death Cab For Cutie themselves, and more. again.
The album will also be accompanied by a podcast hosted by Gibbard and music journalist Jenny Eliscu, which features in-depth discussions about Ono’s music and legacy.
Pre-orders for “Ocean Child” are available now, and a portion of all proceeds from the record will be donated to WhyHunger. Ono has supported the nonprofit organization and its efforts in the fight against hunger and poverty for decades.
In a statement shared with the album announcement, Gibbard said, “Yoko creates art that teaches us all that peace is possible. [This album] was born out of both love and frustration.
“The ‘love’ part is pretty obvious; It’s the seemingly bottomless well of inspiration and pleasure that Yoko Ono’s music has provided me and I have to take credit for everyone else present here on this compilation. The “frustration” part, on the other hand, goes back decades. »
Earlier today (January 26), Japanese Breakfast was announced as part of Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival lineup in May. Zauner released his last album with the project, ‘Jubilee’, last summer. In a four-star review, NME Will Richards hailed it as a “bold statement of ambition”.
