The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We - Mitski
Mitski’s 7th studio album is a brilliant and compelling reinvention. It may even be her best record yet. Her fresh and solid take on alternative country, americana, and chamber pop spans eleven tracks—each one being fully divorced from the fatigue of 2022’s Laurel Hell or the unpolished, lo-fi sound of her earlier projects such as 2014’s Bury Me At Makeout Creek and 2013’s Retired from Sad, New Career in Business.
Throughout what she considers her “most American album,” Mitski’s various protagonists grapple with life on an “inhospitable land.” The record opens with “Bug Like an Angel” through the perspective of an alcoholic who cannot bring themselves to put their drink down. The initially mellow acoustic number bursts in jumpscares of gospel, representing the broken promises and past mistakes that haunt the protagonist.
This theme of despair and suffering persists in the twangy and vintage country-adjacent “I Don’t Like My Mind”, in which another protagonist overeats and overworks in a desperate attempt to distract themselves from their restless mind. “The Deal” offers a similar sentiment of self-destruction as a means of escaping one’s suffering. Unable to endure the weight of having a soul, Mitski sings about surrendering hers for peace: “I can’t bear to keep it / I’d give it just to give.” Unexpectedly, a wall of chaotic sound (akin to the breakdown in “Snow Globes” by Black Country, New Road) interrupts the song, informing us that this peace is only an illusion.
Mitski’s gut-wrenching songwriting extends further to “The Frost”, in which she mourns a bygone friendship, figuratively covered in attic dust. The lyric “You're my best friend, now I've no one to tell / How I lost my best friend” is a brand new addition to the most poignant displays of Mitski-ian loneliness – simple, yet so melancholy. The entirety of “I’m Your Man” is also notable in its brutal and chilling lyricism: “I'm sorry I'm the one you love / No one will ever love me like you again” and “You believe me like a god / I betray you like a man.” The entire song uses biblical allusions to illustrate a godforsaken relationship, crumbling in the hands of the speaker. It ends in an incessant barking of dogs, implying the speaker has been dragged by hounds into hell.
It is a difficult but very admirable feat to be able to keep a song concise without it feeling lackluster; Mitski almost succeeded in 2019’s Be The Cowboy, but a handful of its tracks were too interlude-like to leave a strong impression. This time around, Mitski achieves this songwriting feat with flying colors, like in “When Memories Snow,” which is one minute and 44 seconds of lush, orchestral bliss. The conciseness makes it even more powerful, leaving no room for the track to drag on, fully condensing all of its contents from the steady buildup to one of the album’s most epic and maximalist climaxes. This song feels complete and longer than it actually is!
Another song that achieves this impressive conciseness without compromising any quality is “My Love Mine All Mine” (actually one of her best songs ever). Here, Mitski pleads for all her love to reach her partner even after she leaves this earth. Her melodies and vocal performance are so tender in this song, sweeping down into alto territory and complementing the lyrics so well. The recording being slightly detuned gives the song additional charm, evoking a sense of timelessness, as if the song is playing through an old record player. Any dissonance or distortion is absent, making this song accessible and easy on the ears, so I’m not surprised that this one is more popular than the other tracks.
Mitski delivers more standout vocal performances in the stunning country/chamber pop ballad “Heaven.” She sings with profound emotion and brings her poetry to life: “Now I bend like a willow / Thinkin’ of you / Like a murmurin' brook / Curvin' about you.” On the shimmering art pop track “Star”, her voice also remains as active and agile as the instruments, often interweaving with them to maximize ethereal musical effects. “That love is like a star / It’s gone, we just see it shinin' / It's traveled very far.” She croons, reminding us that love can be just as transcendental as it is transient.
Behind this album is an excellent singer-songwriter, no stranger to the complexities and difficulties of love—and a life that tries to find it and protect it above all else. She has studied and sung about the numerous ways we can be inhospitable to each other and to ourselves. But even in the wake of self-destruction, failed relationships, and existential suffering, Mitski envisions a hopeful, new beginning and finds herself “headin’ somewhere far away” like she sings in the titular “Buffalo Replaced”.
In “I Love Me After You,” the album finally concludes with a certainty we’ve never heard before from her: “I love me after you / I’m king of all the land.” When all the land is this inhospitable, self-love is the most radical act one can choose.
The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We album cover, Mitski