#but kudos to her this really feels at the same quality level as midnights

[lovejustforaday]

2023 Year End List - #18

18. The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We - Mitski

Main genres: Indie Folk

A decent sampling of: Slowcore, Alternative Country, Chamber Pop, Countrypolitan

Gonna admit something that could get me crucified in some spaces of the internet - Mitski is not my #1 contemporary "sad girl" in indie rock/pop, and I've never really 100% bought the hype.

She's definitely talented, and arguably the most likable, down-to-earth indie musician that has reached her level of fame. But Puberty 2 through Be The Cowboy and Laurel Hell, I've only ever found about two tracks on each of these records that I'd wanna revisit regularly (Haven't touched the fan favourite Bury Me At Makeout Creek or those first two records yet, so I could be totally missing out on her best material).

You see, "Your Best American Girl" and "Nobody" are excellent singles that have always deserved the hype they received, but then her records as a whole have generally been full of these songs that I would describe as "under-cooked" and sometimes too short for their own good.

This time around, however, I'm happy to express that I genuinely really enjoyed her latest LP The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We. Mitski's greatest qualities as a songwriter shine much brighter here than on recent past projects. Stripping everything down to intimate, slow-moving folk-country balladry plays to her greatest strengths - the way in which Mitski carries her melodies so delicately, like a broken bird when singing, and how clearly gifted she is at writing those melodies.

The display of painfully universal human emotions also permeates this record as much as any other Mitski project, but this time I feel that her songs are given more room to breathe, which allows the emotional gut punches to hit much harder.

This is most evident on the record's finest moment, a song called "Heaven" which, like all of the best Mitski tracks, is mostly about the shameless longing for the love of another human being, this time set to the tune of arcadian, countrypolitan-style string arrangements that flourish over a wistful promenade of reflections on her unbridled devotion towards a lover that is all too absent. This is the sound of her signature artistic style aging into a fine, full-bodied wine that I could very easily get drunk off of (and then, in true Mitski fashion, start sobbing uncontrollably).

There's also the thundering bittersweet triumph of "When Memories Snow", wherein Mitski expresses the desire to wipe clean all the traumas of the past, while achieving a sound that is close, familiar, and personal, yet also somehow larger than life as any 60s brill building production. That bold country orchestra is every bit as awakening to the senses as dunking your head in a bucket of ice water, and I also just need to take a minute to acknowledge the deeply satisfying chord progressions that manage to really seal the deal on making this track feel truly massive.

I also really appreciate the closer "I Love Me After You", an epilogue that gently sways and disappears into a hushed, forested midnight of bassy piano chords, low crashing cymbals, and sleepy guitar drones.

If you weren't fully sold on Mitski before in the same way that I wasn't, then this could very well be the record that gets you hooked. The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We plays to all of her strengths as an artist, and it really shows Mitski coming into her own as a seasoned musician who's capable of adapting to new sounds.

I'm still not convinced she couldn't make an even better record in the future if she continues in this direction as a songwriter. It's a bit slow to start, and the B-side heavily dominates the album, but this is her first record that I will be putting in my regular rotation, and a big highlight of the year for the Mitski diehards and longtime skeptics alike. So kudos to the millennial queen of sad girl indie.

8/10

Highlights: "Heaven", "When Memories Snow", "I Love Me After You", "My Love Mine All Mine"