by Devon Chodzin (@bigugly)
At the same time that the artist claimed much-needed respite from the digital and onstage limelight, Mitski’s body of work witnessed an alarming uptick in popularity. It can feel as though Mitski has the world’s largest “cult following,” as fan dedication has almost become a competitive sport between individual disciples. Her North American tour dates sold out in a matter of seconds despite venue capacities in the thousands. Mitski does not shy away from addressing the contradictions she feels occupying this extraordinary position, in all its validating rewards and unending tribulations. Deconstructing binaries and layering such discrepant emotions are already talents Mitski has honed on albums prior, but on Laurel Hell, such tension provides a well of energy as the storied singer-songwriter pirouettes between tracks that address career stress, infidelity, insomnia, and more.
On Laurel Hell, whose title refers to thickets of prepossessing but noxious mountain laurel that have inspired myth-making throughout greater Appalachia, Mitski embraces pop soundscapes with more vigor than on any previous record. In order to properly enjoy the process, Mitski needed to pair the complex emotions she charts on Laurel Hell with danceable pop production. The record opens with alluring sparsity on “Valentine, Texas,” and after one minute, Mitski’s haunting voice, guided by entropy, is paired alongside a symphony of synths, keys, and drums. It is the mark of a bold arrival. “Working for the Knife” begins with an industrial quality; the percussive layers sound reminiscent of a foundry, bolstering the lyrical content centered on the toll Mitski has endured as a laboring artist. It’s hard not to break a sweat.
While Laurel Hell is best approximated as an alternative pop record, Mitski takes genres as suggestions at best. As such, she darts between styles with mastery, keeping pop as a home base but channeling her lyrics through additional prisms as desired. “Stay Soft” offers the groovy and grave funk that came to define Be The Cowboy, and “Everyone” possesses the pop-cum-industrial intensity that entranced fans on Puberty 2. The pop turn is most evident once “The Only Heartbreaker” commences, featuring a chorus of uptempo synthesizers that make for the perfect earworm. Mitski zeroes in on a strained relationship and takes the vantage point of its villain, challenging listeners who may be accustomed to playing her music to soothe wounds from wrongs done unto them to try identifying with the wrongdoer. Mitski challenges listeners similarly on “Should’ve Been Me,” which frames relationship infidelity with mercy, as if the act of cheating provides a way out for characters whose love for each other, while sincere, cannot rise to the occasion.
“Love Me More” continues the synth-pop orientation immediately following “The Only Heartbreaker,” but rather than magnifying the tension in a pair’s relationship, Mitski’s subject here resembles her career, a source of adoration, validation, and pressure that can have the same fast-paced and frenetic qualities the track exhibits. “Love Me More” is entrancing by nature due to the imperatives Mitski issues and repeats in its chorus over a swarm of synths: “I need you to love me more / Love me more, love me more.”
“I Guess” sounds like a fitting finale for Laurel Hell as Mitski’s voice, still somewhat measured, takes center stage in what sounds akin to a Broadway protagonist’s final solo number before joining the ensemble cast for a reprise. At just over two minutes, the gentle track wraps the album neatly in a bow before “That’s Our Lamp” provides a groovy and unforeseen disco closer. While the underlying instrumentals sound best suited for a track about free love, here Mitski considers a fading relationship, peering into settings where love was exchanged and narrating as though the relationship is over at last. One has to wonder if this is the goodbye gesture that Mitski has for her singer-songwriter days and it’s a jarring note to end on. However, if there is anyone who knows how to make a surprise exit graceful, it’s Mitski, and if Laurel Hell is truly the end of Mitski’s career as we know it, then it’s a beautiful note on which to close.