Laurel Hell

Mitski

I have finally been formally introduced to Mitski via this new record Laurel Hell. I'm not sure if this sound is indicative of any of her previous material, but what this record gave me was a pretty lavish indie, baroque-pop, experience that occasionally dips into 80s new wave and disco. Production wise, I'm pretty impressed, especially with the opening track here. Valentine, Texas begins so softly with a low, unwavering synth bass and Mitski's cautious vocals. There is a little bit of slap-back delay applied to them giving them a disembodied characteristic. When the rest of the instrumentation comes in, it is so elegant and dramatic. It stopped me in my tracks after the first listen. Unfortunately though, I couldn't find another track on here that matched that level of excitement and wonder. I felt other tracks had some great elements, like the duelling rhythms on Working For the Knife, or the unexpected pianos and shimmering layers at the tail end of Everyone, but there was a few reoccurring issues that kept me from really getting into this.

For one, Mitski's vocal melodies come off quite restrained. There are countless times where I feel like the vocals need to go to a certain place, if that makes sense. I'm not necessarily looking for the most sweeping or soaring melodies, I just wish I heard a little more movement. Mitski sounds melodically caged almost all throughout Everyone and surprisingly on Love Me More which easily has my least favourite chorus. Another big issue I have with this record is that I feel a lot of songs just fizzle out before they can reach their full potential. I use Everyone as an example again as that nice rush of instrumentation brightens up the tune only for around twenty seconds before the song fades out. I feel the same about That's Our Lamp which is this joyous jam that closes the record. The song's climax has this incredibly 'live' feeling thanks to this growing sense of space added to all the instrumentation and background vocals. However, this moment is hastily thrusted upon us and disappears just as quickly when it begins to fade at the two-minute mark. The point is that Laurel Hell has the sounds, the ideas, and a great direction, but is lacking just a little bit on the follow through.

I was reading that after Mitski's last record, she had almost decided to quit making music; feeling uncomfortable with the amount of success she had and all the baggage that comes with that. Her reluctance to return to writing and performing is a topic she addresses on this very record. I can't help but think that, and this is totally unfounded speculation, her reluctance maybe held her back a little. I feel like I'm not seeing all sides of Mitski, but again, this is just my first introduction. I would be curious to sample some of her earlier material to maybe get a better idea.