Mitski

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.

You are the only person on the internet who likes track 4 :p

yeah thought it was just me but the album is ... nice, but doesn't sufficiently differentiate itself from her last one, nothing really sticks out. might be a grower though. I certainly don't dislike it.

Okay, I was wrong. Stay Soft is incredible.

I really like the album. It's not quite as glorious as Be The Cowboy, but I do think the songs are there despite the sheen of the music. Everyone is a slight mood killer although I do really like that ABBA style piano that comes in. Be The Cowboy had A Horse Named Called Air which I thought was way worse.

Does anyone know what the title of this album means / refers to?

“Laurel Hell is a term from the Southern Appalachians in the US, where laurel bushes basically grow in these dense thickets. When you get stuck in these thickets, you can’t get out. Or so the story goes.”

“And so there are a lot of Laurel Hells in America, in the South, where they’re named after the people who died within them because they were stuck. The thing is, laurel flowers are so pretty. They just burst into these explosions of just beauty. And, I just, I liked the notion of being stuck inside this explosion of flowers and perhaps even dying within one of them.”

https://www.thefocus.news/music/laurel-hell-meaning/

Thx!

Saw a huge ad for her album which is just a close up of her face and for a second I thought it was bjork

keep thinking it's one of those portmanteau super-ilxor names

Liking the album though it's very dour. The last song stood out to me the most.

Her streaming numbers are crazy. 202 million plays on Spotify for Washing Machine Heart? Is this a TikTok thing?

"washing machine heart" was a tiktok hit yeah

her other big songs are still in the hundreds of million, though.

it makes sense that she has a massive cult following. she is a genius. like sylvia plath, she is confessional but not sentimental.

"Should've Been Me," more like should've been acknowledged as a perfect song

first Mitski album where I love every song

Laurel Hell that is

The title fucks me up because I always read it as Laurel Halo, and then I'm like no, wait a minute, it's Mitski.

new track imminent with album to follow, I'm wondering if too many people lost interest after Laurel Hell

https://pitchfork.com/news/mitski-announces-new-album-the-land-is-inhospitable-and-so-are-we-new-song-out-next-week/

Why would anyone have lost interest? Laurel Hell is fabulous.

It never grabbed me completely, I should revisit it.

Felt lackluster after Be The Cowboy, not bad just missing something.

I didn't love Laurel Hell or even Be The Cowboy like I did Bury Me and Puberty 2, but I'm still plenty interested. The unexpected choir in "Bug Like An Angel" is great!

xp Its critical reception was certainly less rapturous, though I'm sure the TikTok teens will still show up for her

be the cowboy fucking ruled.

mitski 4ever but she will never reach the same heights of popularity that she did in her early albums. this is because our collective misery has caught up with her personal misery, which she mines so expertly, with brutal irony.

like, you can't listen to this stuff if you are in the throes of an actual depressive episode. you can only enjoy it when you are the other side and then you can shudder and be like "ooh, i remember that," it's like dancing with the devil. the pleasure in this music isn't catharsis it's something else.

I always want you when I'm finally fine
How you'd be over me looking in my eyes when I come
Someone to watch me die, someone to watch me die

the new single is actually awesome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8r1M9R9Gf0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zSHu-fY-yM

new singles are quite nice

Even more than usual, these remind me of a certain other current songwriter I'm a fan of. Star builds with customary economy to a lovely intensity though, and I'm looking forward to the album

Heaven a bit drab mind

"star" is definitely the better of the two, the build is very nice

which songwriter are you thinking of

the right honourable Natalie Mering ofc