By JAZMIN GOMEZ
Released on streaming platforms September 15, Mitski combined raw poetic lyricism with emotionally vulnerable indie rock in illustrating the uncomfortable but liberating trials of life in her seventh studio album The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We. The artist gutted the conventions of music composition to invent a piece simultaneously heartbreaking and immensely freeing through her unafraid approach to sensitivity. Two journeys relating to Mitski’s own experiences develop and undergo a striking resolve in the album, heightening emotion in “The Deal” and consequent instrumentals in “When Memories Snow” to a finalizing descend in “I’m Your Man” and impactful hum in “I Love Me After You.” Through this beginning and end, Mitski relates the finality of life emphasizing the significance of self acceptance.
Acting as the lead single in her album, “Bug Like an Angel” follows Mitski’s brand of powerful realism aided by the intense crescendo of the chorus and choir. The implications of the “A bug like an angel stuck to the bottom/Of my glass” is solidified by her ending line “I try to remember the wrath of the devil/Was also given him by God” suggesting themes of temptation and struggle. Further, in “Buffalo Replaced,” Mitski shares the overwhelming uncomfortability with modernity through dreamy comparisons of nature and industrialization. Shifting the tone of the album, “The Deal” presents the complete consumption of Mitski in the despairing void of commercialization. “Your pain is eased but you’ll never be free, for/Now I’m taken, the night has me,” Mitski illustrates the initial desires of fame leading to the loss of personal familiarity to then the total loss of humanity. The first half of the album acts as an introduction to Mitski’s story of her deeply complex career. Already, the gentle lullabies of her first five songs stray away from the artist’s prior 2022 indie pop album Laurel’s Hell, insinuating an inclination for a more intimate share among her fans.“You believe me like a God/I betray you like a man” Mitski admits internal feelings of unworthiness exuding the self-deprecation of an artist experiencing imposter syndrome in the song “I’m Your Man.” Especially in the line “So, when you leave me, I should die,” she relates back to themes of morality and imprisonment existing in the music industry. A loss of fans or relevance ultimately leads to a loss of identity, and for Mitski, her metaphorical soul. As the second to last song in the album, intentionally setting a demoralizing tone, the artist extends the outro’s vocals to deepen the message portrayed and to allow the listeners to anticipate the closer. Mitski celebrates her completion of the album and the journey of her career in “I Love Me After You” in a finalizing fizzling out of instrumentals. Emphasizing a joyous end towards self-love, the line “King of all the land/I’m the king of all the land” offers a hopeful attitude and a liberating victory for the artist in achieving self-discovery at the end of an emotionally riveting album. The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We demonstrates Mitski’s original and renowned poetic style through her immensely confessional indie rock.
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