
On The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We, Mitski’s seventh album, she not only sings as herself, but several other characters as well. She’s an alcoholic who finds a bug at the bottom of her never-ending glass; she’s a desperate narrator who sells her soul to the night; she’s a dog, or rather, a man. Mitski explained to National Public Radio (NPR) that most of the songs and their content didn’t happen to her in real life, but instead are fictitious tales that reflect her inner peace and turmoil. All of these characters are different versions of who she perceives herself to be as an Asian American, and she presents them here on what she calls her “most American album.” The title isn’t too far-fetched, considering the very distinct sound from the rest of her discography, almost veering on the country genre.
The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We is much more welcoming than her otherwise dissonant works, such as Retired from Sad, New Career in Business (2013) or Puberty 2 (2016), the latter being a personal favorite of mine. This new album was arranged by Drew Erickson, a producer who has worked with the gentle sounds of Weyes Blood and Father John Misty. In order to get an idea of Erickson’s sound, I not only recommend listening to this album, but also Lana Del Rey’s “Let the Light In”, which features Father John Misty. Both projects have a dreamy, swaying feel to them.
This new, positive sound is not to discredit her harsh lyricism and, at times, frightening production. On the first track and lead single, “Bug Like An Angel”, Mitski sings “As I got older, I learned I’m a drinker/Sometimes a drink feels like family”. She repeats “family”, a choir of people suddenly joining in as well. Although the very sudden choir was jarring on the first listen, it was even more unsettling in the music video. Mitski’s known for creating very striking visuals that accompany her music. Nevertheless, much to my surprise and the rest of her fans’, she begins to take a lighter and even hopeful approach later on the album. In “My Love Mine All Mine”, dare I say the only optimistic love song in her discography (so far), she sings the very heartfelt lines, “Moon, tell me if I could/Send up my heart to you?/So, when I die, which I must do/Could it shine down here with you?” The track is also accompanied with a music video, drastically different from the one I’ve already described. To describe this album as a happy one is most definitely a stretch, but there’s a light that shines through the pessimism which is characteristic of her music.
Something I’ve always appreciated about her sound are the bold choices she makes. Although this album didn’t feature as many as I would have liked, there are a couple of confusing, even scary moments. For the last minute or so of the haunting song, “I’m Your Man”, we hear a disarray of noises, ranging from dogs barking to crickets chirping to someone randomly screaming. She starts the song by saying “You’re an angel, I’m a dog/Or, you’re a dog and I’m your man.” Throughout the track, Mitski claims that she’s not deserving of this person’s love, someone who looks up to her as a God. At the end, however, she finishes with “I betray you like a man.” The meaning here is very ambiguous; she’s spoken about her experience with men and toxic masculinity as an Asian-American on older tracks such as “Real Men” or “Your Best American Girl”. The flipside is “man” being “mankind”, a display of how inhospitable we really are.
Though some tracks don’t stand out as much as others, my personal favorite, and the climax of the album, is the last one, “I Love Me After You”. The song is self-explanatory in its title, Mitski prioritizing her partner instead of herself. The beauty in the track is when she flips the title on its head; she now loves herself after the end of a relationship, after loving him. On the last track of her fourth album, Puberty 2, she describes herself as both a burning hill and a worthless bystander who can do nothing to help it. On “I Love Me After You”, she makes it clear who’s in control of the situation, the final line deeming her “king of all the land”. The land may be an inhospitable one, but she’s king of it nonetheless.
Comments