Photo credits: Ebru Yildiz
For those who are unaware of her and her music, Mitski is an indie-rock musician who has released seven albums since 2012. She studied studio composition at State University of New York (SUNY) at Purchase College’s Conservatory of Music where she recorded and self-released her debut “Lush” (2012). Each album since “Lush” has differed in sound and feel, yet the lyricism has always been recognizable as Mitski’s. She has gained popularity throughout the years, but “Be The Cowboy” (2018), which came out a little over five years ago, is undeniably her most popular and well-known release.
Before Mitski’s newest album, “The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We” (2023), it had been almost two years since her last release, “Laurel Hell” (2022), an album which was influenced a lot by the sound of the 80s, particularly new-wave and synth-pop. It was a different sound in contrast to earlier albums, but fans loved it, especially considering this had been her first project since “Be The Cowboy.” However, compared to “Laurel Hell” and previous releases, Mitski’s newest album ventures away from her usual vibe yet is still undeniably her.
While “The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We” is similar to Mitski’s earlier stuff, it’s also different in most aspects. I would describe it as more acoustic, soft and folk compared to her albums “Laurel Hell” and “Be The Cowboy” which both fell under the indie-pop/indie-rock categories. On the other hand, this album is more similar in some ways to “Puberty 2” (2016), “Bury Me at Makeout Creek” (2014) and even her first release, “Lush.” Despite the similarities, overall this album has an entirely different feel.
All of the songs on the album are different and unique enough to be identifiable by themselves, yet the album is still cohesive and sticks to a theme. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and my favorite songs were “My Love Mine All Mine,” “Heaven,” “The Deal,” “When Memories Snow,” “The Frost” and “I’m Your Man.” The lyrics are heartfelt and the album makes sense altogether. At the end of it, I still wanted more! Some of my favorite lyrics and song meanings come from “My Love Mine All Mine,” which I would say is the best song off of the album. While the meaning could be interpreted in different ways, the way I took it was Mitski recognizing her capability to love, and that it belongs to her and no one else.
Additionally, I appreciate the “hope” this album brought to listeners. I mean this in two different ways: firstly, previous albums of hers are quite melancholic. Despite the overall theme (sadness, love and loneliness) staying the same with “The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We,” some of the lyrics sound just a little less bleak than earlier releases. Take for example the last song on the album, “I Love Me After You” which leaves listeners with a hopeful ending despite the title. She sings about leaving a relationship in the past and learning to love who she is. On top of that, we also have “My Love Mine All Mine” which I mentioned above; a song about how her love is the one thing that truly belongs to her in this world, something that cannot be taken away.
The second reason I believe this album brought “hope” to listeners is because Mitski’s previous album “Laurel Hell” was created to fulfill a contract. In an interview with Rolling Stone, after her 2019 tour, Mitski made the decision to retire from the business because the tour was taking a toll on her mental health, and she felt that “music was the only thing she felt she was capable of doing.” However, after making this decision to leave, she realized her contract required her to release another album. This is how we got “Laurel Hell,” which seemed like it was created out of necessity rather than choice.
Although I enjoyed “Laurel Hell,” there is an obvious theme of exhaustion and not feeling entirely authentic. This is why “The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We” seems like a breath of fresh air to not only fans but also to Mitski. She ended up renewing her contract in order to create the album. It was not made for the same reasoning as “Laurel Hell” – this time, it seems she genuinely wanted to create it.
Mitski’s newest album was much more up my alley compared to “Laurel Hell.” It was a great, cohesive project that showed the evolution of Mitski’s discography up to now. It’s amazing that she can experiment with her music genre-wise, yet still please fans and stay true to herself and her music. If you haven’t listened to Mitski already, I would highly recommend checking out her discography. Out of all seven albums, she has a little something for everyone to enjoy.
Ava Werner is a third-year Psychology major. AW973732@wcupa.edu.