Mitski

oh this rules but as usual with her stuff i wish it were longer

Agreed that it rules, but I think her economy is one of her greatest strengths.

Not sure what criteria are for the Popular list. Maybe it weights more recent streams higher?

feel like it bears repeating that this is an exceptional comeback by any metric

wish it was longer? it's 5 minutes long!

haha

in fact, this is longer than any song on any of her last three albums.

it's 72 seconds longer than the *longest* song (by quite a bit) on Be The Cowboy!

this is looong for Mitski!

and now i will listen to it for the first time

AW HELL

i just looked at the video run time

still, it's like 4 minutes, which is long for her

anyway ... my bad everyone. please carry on.

If by "like 4 minutes", you mean "2:38", you are OTM. :P xp

it's not even 4 minutes

sheesh

someone delete all my posts, plz

haha xpost

ok, i will slink away in shame

i'm glad she's back. Be The Cowboy was great and "Your Best American Girl" is an all-timer.

to be clear, everyone, the lesson here is: watch the video and listen to the song before you post a bunch of dumb shit. ok now i'm really done.

the point is it is good

hey speaking of 2:38 did anyone manage to get tickets to any of the shows for the extremely small amount of time it was possible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmXFF_whkVk

this one's very good, most pop she's ever been

press release indicates this is going to be her synthpop album

my response to this song and that news is exactly what you think it is

that said, 'working for the knife' was brilliant as ever so I'm confused and willing to hear more

but seriously tho, if Weyes Blood joins Charli and Mitski in the let's-be-80s-like-everyone-else corner I might blow a gasket

'most pop she's ever been' is just...no, this is the most fashionably and straightforwardly pop she's ever been but she's given us nothing but amazing (if somewhat artful) pop for two if not three albums

my biggest problem with this song isn't the genre so much as the combination of genre and length though. usually her genomic style works beautifully but this doesn't have the space to expand as befits classical synthpop

co-written with dan wilson!

*gnomic ffs

'most straightforwardly pop' is what i mean by 'most pop' yes

reminds me of The War on Drugs

it's my loss but I found it pretty dull, and the video pushes it into near-parody for me

not like i’m expecting good writing in a press release but i still wish i hadn’t read the press release

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvIkcN5YMH4

this one is underwhelming

weak chorus yes. kinda wish it had all been that velvet underground goes post-rock first verse tbh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4J3Z9xgjWQ

the piano in the middle is fantastic but doesn't quite go far enough?

Oh good, more mediocre synthpop

Pitchfork will of course call this her 'most ambitious album yet'

imo the length of the pandemic has fucked with most of my favourite artists, it's kind of sad

i don't love the new material but i'm finding these tracks a little stronger than be the cowboy so far. the synths aren't some huge departure either. still very much the same songwriter with the same strengths & weaknesses.

be the cowboy is her masterpiece imo, kind of think of it like the original incarnation of wire did an emopop album in between chairs missing and 154

and the ingenious manipulations of melody just aren't there now; nor are the sonic surprises. i liked 'working for the knife' a lot but all three subsequent singles have felt empty

i don't think it's the length of the pandemic, really. maybe a little or in some cases. i just think (a) it's hard to keep making amazing albums over and over again, and (b) the prevalence of mediocre synthpop (mushcore, as that one guy calls it) and its incredible power over these people (why i do not know), and (c) you also are getting further and further away from the thrill of discovery, hearing new things, evolving in your interests, etc., and Mitski just isn't as interesting to you as she once was. obviously i don't know how you feel, i'm just tossing it out there as a potential factor here.

she was due to get boring, tbh.

i would be interested to hear why you think the length of the pandemic is causing some artists trouble, though.

well, full-band arrangements harder to rehearse and perform, for one, but there's more, hang on

extremely Wrong and Subjective post alert, sorry sorry sorry etc

okay so here are all the artists who have in the past year or two followed up, imo, greatness with non-greatness

- retreat into synthpop (mitski, charli): can't really explain this besides wanting to play the folk music of our pop age, needing the comfort of conformity idk

- albums that foreground negativity, doubt, struggle and end up sounding like a hodgepodge (l'rain, us girls): i get it i really do, but can we have some wide-eyed wonder back maybe idk

- albums that are just a mess and not a particularly compelling one (wilderun, tropical fuck storm): maybe you undercooked it? again, understandable, but

oneohtrix point never and little simz also fall into this category but i suspect their reasons are less pandemic-related and more to do with absolutely just wanting to be icons and seizing their opportunity by sacrificing a little edge for a little (or actually quite a lot of) cornball pandering.

i just pray weyes blood somehow doesn't follow one of these paths, but i am not hopeful

anyway sorry for this unhinged outpouring, i can only plead that to my ears all of these artists have blundered their art to some extent; you may and probably do disagree

adopting this DN for one post so whiney and sarahell can have their fun

to speculate wildly, one reason i think mitski decided to go in a more synthpoppy direction because "nobody" and "washing machine heart" have evolved into an actual honest-to-goodness not-just-internet capital-h hit, and she wants to see if she can reach festival headliner status, or to paraphrase imago, she "absolutely just wants to be an icon"

anyway, the piano does sound great on the new one, but the formula of "80s synth pattern + one weird chord in the verse" isn't really grabbing me

fair enough, good posts imago. appreciate it.

i have no idea whether to be worried about Weyes Blood or not. probably should.

anyone listen to the Tim Heidecker record she's on?

What was ufo's post linking to two days ago? The youtube link now says 'this live event is no longer available'.

ok nm it's "Love Me More", managed to copy the URL

retreat into synthpop (mitski, charli): can't really explain this besides wanting to play the folk music of our pop age, needing the comfort of conformity idk

We'll never agree on whether synthpop is a valid playground for inspiration (me) or retro slop (imago), but I think we *do* agree that neither of these artists are very successful in pivoting to it. I've got the Mitski album pre-ordered anyway, but I half expect to play it once, put it on the shelf, and then try it again sometime in 2028.

when done well i'm a fan! we do agree yes

this album has lots of cool ideas in the background but it doesn't lean into them anywhere enough and a lot of it does just end up in mediocre synthpop territory

Stay Soft is so good lol, even if this album is full of stinkers later at least it has its first 3 tracks

henceforth the first 3 and closing song on this are to be known as the Working For The Knife EP, a sterling continuation from the form of Be The Cowboy, nothing else happened here

see "stay soft" is one that doesn't work at all for me

I am a sucker for juicy chord changes tbf

henceforth the first 3 and closing song on this are to be known as the Working For The Knife EP, a sterling continuation from the form of Be The Cowboy, nothing else happened here

This but swapping track 3 for track 4. The opening track is astonishing! Cyberpunk gothic.