Laurel Canyon Hell

Indie queen Mitski is back with a 6th album, Laurel Hell, 4 years after her last. While her loyal fanbase was anxiously waiting for it, many had lost hope... but there are still good news to be had!

It’s hard to believe that Mistki is only 31. For years now, the interesting, quirky, distinctive musings of this young yet extremely talented musician have mesmerised many people, to the point of sparking a proper following. One of her early hits, “Your Best American Girl“, was a great indicator of her personality on and off record: a complex, some might say tortured soul, looking at her identity, her surroundings and the potential discrepancies between the two. Needless to say, these discrepancies have all but vanished…

Following the 2018 release of her (already) 5th album, Be the Cowboy, which once again explored Americana, its appeal and her feeling — to some extent — like an outsider looking in, it was radio silence for a while there. Mitski got off social media, which is akin to disappearing in this day and age, then the lockdown started and everyone virtually disappeared. Or, rather, only appeared virtually. Then, a few months ago, the singer-songwriter started popping up on Instagram again, posting new visuals without much context. We knew something was up, but we could only guess what that was.

The guessing game is now over: earlier this month, Mitski’s 6th album, Laurel Hell, was (finally) released. Starting with its lead single “Working for the Knife” back in October of last year, we could feel that the tone of this LP, on par with previous works, was rather dark and contemplative. The full recording all but confirms that assumption: this short 11-track collection (clocking in at a mere 32 minutes) is a tight, elegantly produced, somewhat retro-nostalgic piece of subtle synth-pop. The stylistic continuity between songs is extremely strong, with a few standouts: “Heat Lightning”, which sounds ever so slightly like a nod to early Velvet Underground tunes; “I Guess”, which stands as a modern day equivalent to The Doors’ “The End“; “Love Me More”, which comes out as an almost perfect replica of the best 80’s pop ever produced…

All things considered, this 2022 crop of Mitski compositions may not quite be a departure from her earlier releases, but that’s a good thing: turns out we wanted more of that…