Mitski Album Review

After a year-long break with no hopes of a new album in sight, The Land is Inhospitable And So Are We was released on September 15, 2023, by Mitski Miyawaki, known professionally as Mitski, and is her seventh studio album. It debuted with more than 5 million streams on its first full day.

To understand this album, you need to know who Mitski is. Mitski is an iconic musical artist most well-known for her Alternative / Indie Rock sound. Even though she doesn’t have a “hit single”, she’s had a steady fanbase for years, and her loyal listeners stream her music over long periods. A great number of people listen to her because they relate to the feelings presented in her music; unrequited love, loneliness, self-hatred, and the struggles of growing up / living as a mixed-race person. 

Many of these feelings are on display in The Land is Inhospitable, which has received praise for authentic and emotionally raw lyrics, particularly in tracks like “Bug Like an Angel” where she speaks on alcohol use and regret, and in “My Love Mine All Mine” she sings about self-acceptance and realizing that her love is one thing that will always belong to her. This album also features a seventeen-person choir, a full orchestra, and uses sounds like barking dogs and buzzing cicadas. Mitski has taken inspiration from Spaghetti Western soundtracks in this album, and in a press statement, she called it her “most American album”. 

Many fans would agree that her music is a way for listeners to express their emotions. Some Mitski fans at Champaign Central High School said “Usually her songs are dark and depressing and usually make you sad if you aren’t already, but for me when I listen to certain ones, it shows me that there’s someone else who also experienced what I had”, one said, “I like her songs. They are really expressive. I feel like they are very emotional”, and, when asked what they would like to tell people who haven’t listened to Mitski’s music before, another said, “Go listen to her, she’s life changing”.

Mitski is currently on tour in support of her new album.