I am not super aware of Mitski beyond a very strong cult following for her. It seemed in the similar vein of the cult following for Kate Bush, who I am less interested in. Nevertheless, this cult following made me interested in what would be her next full release. She describes the release as a soundtrack for transformation, which also intrigued me to see the lyrical quality of the work. She is well known for being deep amongst her fanbase. I will now be the judge of that, for better or worse.
The album begins with "Valentine, Texas", a lyrically brief track with almost soundtrack style music. The lyrics however do not quite fit the musical melody, it comes off more like poetry. I do like the sound of her voice right off though. It makes me think of an airer Cranberries.
"Working for the Knife" has a strong emotional energy but the song feels like it is not carried well by the instrumentation. It drowns her out vocally so I can barely appreciate the story within it.
"Stay Soft" is the first song that really grabbed me. Lyrically it feels poignant while also being carried well by the melody. There is more power shown in her voice here as well.
"Everyone" falls into the similar category where it feels the delivery is more a poem than a song while trying to live within the melody and it does not work well.
"Heat Lightning" feels a bit confusing. I played it about three times and for once - I am still unsure how I actually feel about the song.
"The Only Heartbreaker" takes us a little more upbeat and her voice carries this song better, but it is lyrically less appealing.
"Love Me More" I think is the first song I feel genuinely worked all around. The delivery is great. The lyrics speak without being too vague or confusing. A great solid track. I am so far beginning to feel the shift toward the middle is better than the beginning.
"There's Nothing Here for You" is not perfect but the emotional delivery and impactful instrumentation make up for the imperfections to me. Sometimes something is not meant to be perfect.
"Should've Been Me" took a step in the wrong direction, making me think of a sort of subpar Fleetwood Mac of some sort musically.
"I Guess" then slips into the flaws of the early part of the album.
The album closes with "That's Our Lamp", a bit of a confusing closer with a near disco aspect to it. I was not super into it either to say the least.
Lyrics: 6/10 - I sometimes feel perhaps I didn't connect, other times they were just too vague or cliche to really attach to seriously.
Music: 7/10 - The album plays with a lot of ideas I find interesting from the music perspective but I do not think they worked.
Overall: 6/10 - I am still unsure what to make of it really. I could see the album being a grower for some and a disappointment for others. It is a very mixed bag of content. Some makes me feel inclined to try more by her - other tracks make me want to run from the scene I just entered.
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