Mitski’s Laurel Hell brings us new sound, same feelings

After a three-year hiatus where she “learned to be human again,” indie rock star Mitski has returned with her sixth studio album Laurel Hell. Here, a chronic existentialist and a no-thoughts-only-cry listener bring you our feelings about the album.

Starting off with the project’s sound, Laurel Hell contains a lot of genres, including zangy break-up disco, bedroom floor rock and botanist zig jazz, and while these sounds have been explored before, an album dedicated to this vibe is new to Mitski. With a title like Laurel Hell, a sense of hysteria is guaranteed, and Mitski definitely doesn’t hold back. The project is, at all times, manic or somber, and an unpredictable mix of both portrays nothing less than the human condition.

Some tracks stand out more than others, and these are our favorites.

 

“The Only Heartbreaker”:

Stella: Definitely made for “I am the problem” girlies who avoid conflict by resigning themselves to sorrow.

Ryan: A fast-paced bop that’s also super sad and just bleeding with sorrow, worry and unwarranted guilt.

 

“Heat Lightning”:

Stella: Accepting the parts of her that suffer, but also this sense of being overtaken. In my head, this imagery is a raging black ocean.

Ryan: She takes power in the acceptance of her inability to conquer her internal world, and I really have to sit with that.

 

“Should’ve Been Me”:

Stella: I always imagine snapping to this song in a fun jazzy way. But also with tears streaming down my face because c’mon. 

Ryan: The production feels like it wants to slap me in the face as I dance (it succeeds).

 

“Love Me More”:

Stella: It seems different compared to her usual tone of, “take from me, take from me, take from me,” because here she’s demanding more. At its core though, it’s still a desperate song, and it holds that same meaning. She’s still pleading for someone else to suffocate her, even if it’s under the guise of love. 

 

“There’s Nothing Left For You”:

Ryan: Really beautiful sound. Starts slow and burns itself to death in a carousel of grief.

 

“Everyone”:

Stella: The song is about naivety or general detachment; it’s more mournful for her circumstances, like knowing you welcomed something hungry, and it devoured you. 

 

Finally, we have our overall thoughts on this installation in the Mitski Musical Universe (MMU).

 

Ryan: This album has a lot of ironic danceability along with its deeper lyrics. Mitski’s known for these sort of juxtapositions, and it really shines on this work.  I really like all the whispering she does over some whisper-sounding instrumentals — they make songs feel intimate and fleeting. Some songs begin like this and then escalate quickly into a faster blur of sound that leaves you just as overwhelmed as you should be listening to a project like this.

Stella: To Mitski, being loved is being swallowed whole; it’s destruction, and here she has to reconcile that damage. This album is deeply personal. Between the vocals, instrumentals and even the imagery in the music videos – it hits and it hits hard. These songs can be best described as the stinging reverberations that you’d only otherwise find in your skull. Essentially, this album grabs your throat before kissing your forehead, and I would have it no other way.