Review: Mitski teaches us how to heal after years of emotional turmoil
★★★★½
Top Track: “My Love Mine All Mine”
After a summer of anticipation, Mitski’s seventh album has been released just in time for sad girl autumn. Rife with her signature longing and self-reflection, “The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We” is Mitski’s opportunity to show us how she lets go and where she goes from here through a tale of heartbreak, memories and recovery.
The first track, “Bug Like an Angel,” was released as a single in late July and ages well as an opener to the album. With moments of choir-driven harmony splicing into a lone acoustic guitar accompanied by her classic vocal style, this song vividly sets the first scene of what will be a rather cinematic journey.
“Buffalo Replaced” takes the album on an unexpected turn. The simple yet introspective lyrics give listeners lines to stew over like, “Freight train stampedin’ through my backyard /
It’ll run across the plains like the new buffalo replaced.” It feels like Mitski has dropped listeners in the scene of an Old Western on this short song. “Heaven” is a more nostalgic and expected Mitski track that still holds on to the countryside comfort of previous tracks. Swelling strings and poetic lyricism lend euphoria to an already dramatic song.
Strong vocals and explicitly pained lyrics throw us without warning into “I Don’t Like My Mind” in a ballad that is almost jarring. After the vagueness of “Buffalo Replaced,” we get lines such as, “I don’t like being left alone in a room / With all its opinions about the things that I’ve done.” Regret and guilt are contrasted with dancing vocal riffs reminiscent of “Love Me More.” Her vibrato shines best here and mirrors her performance on “First Love/Late Spring.”
Perhaps the most traditional of the album, “The Deal” pulls the listener in and holds us close. She tells us that our “pain is eased but [we’ll] never be free” and suddenly we realize that, maybe, we too would trade our souls for relief from our heartaches. Mistki knows she’s got us and then promptly leaves us while letting us know what we’re missing: “For now I’m taken, the night has me.”
In “When Memories Snow,” Mitski lets her past slip away. The choral aspects of “Bug Like an Angel” return for the climax of the album. The next track eases us back into the ride with “My Love Mine All Mine” with an empowering emphasis on what we are still capable of after heartbreak. Mitski’s love, both what she has given and what she has received, belongs to her. In a musical career riddled with lyrical loss and woe, this song provides a pleasant nudge away from the strictly painful in the album’s falling action.
The next track continues with warm sounds smothering desolate lyrics. “Frost” draws on the lulling melodies of a 70s Southern folk tune while reminding us of how Mitski no longer has anyone with whom to share this comfort. She has lost her best friend, but her emotional vulnerability leads us to believe we hold the same status.
“Star” stays true to the album’s celestial themes, albeit perhaps as more of an ambient transition than a standout track considering its selection for the pre-album EP. Mitski brings listeners back into the narrative with “I’m Your Man,” placing us both as the object of Mitski’s desire and the source of her suffering.
More from The Rice Thresher
Acting like an athlete: Rice basketball alum takes on Broadway
Underneath Chadd Alexander’s Broadway costume, there’s ankle tape and wrist braces — same protective gear he wore as a walk-on basketball player at Rice, though now he’s performing eight shows a week in the ensemble of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” instead of running conditioning drills in Tudor Fieldhouse.
“Love Island” Season 7: A Messy, Magnetic Reality Show
It was my first time watching “Love Island,” and I get it now. There's a cycle to this show: you swear you won't get sucked in, you dismiss it as background noise, and then, one week later, you're canceling plans just to hear a group of twenty-somethings debate the meaning of the word "exploring." The truth is, “Love Island” has plenty of flaws. It’s too long, too produced and too ridiculous, but I'll be the first to admit it: I'm already planning to watch next season.
Review: “F1: The Movie” puts pedal to the metal
Joseph Kosinski, Claudio Miranda and Jerry Bruckheimer — the trio behind “Top Gun: Maverick” — return to high-octane spectacle with “F1,” a sports drama that blends spectacle with surprising humanity. It’s loud, stylish and frequently overwhelming, but it’s also one of the most engaging racing movies in years.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.