A much awaited album was released on Sept. 15th, 2023, by American singer-songwriter Mitski Miyawaki – better known as just Mitski.
Mitski fans have been waiting for a new album since her last one, “Laurel Hell,” released in winter of 2022. That album was described by fans as more happy and upbeat than her past ones, I tend to disagree with that one though – they’ve obviously never listened to “I guess.” However, this album “The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We” is very angsty compared to some of her other albums.
The first track on “The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We” that stuck out to me was “I Don’t Like My Mind,” a song just as depressing as the rest. The second I saw the title of this song for this new album, I knew I was in for a rollercoaster of emotions – that’s Mitski’s superpower. On my first listen to this song, I was blown away by just how much I connect and identify with it. I mean, I could tell I could relate to it by the title, but it didn’t lessen the emotional damage.
Mitski opens the song straight to the point: “I don’t like my mind, I don’t like being left alone in a room / With all its opinions about the things I’ve done.” Wowza, okay, coming straight for where it hurts, Ms. Mitski. She is expressing her conflicts within herself, hating to be stuck in a room with nothing but herself – her biggest enemy is her mind. Her mind subjects her to unwanted thoughts and feelings about herself, negativity consumes her about the choices or actions she has made in the past.
Mitski’s following line is just as relatable, “So, yeah, I blast music loud and I work myself to the bone.” This line just screamed at me because of how much I can relate to it – which is kind of depressing. Mitski uses loud music as a form of escapism to avoid being stuck in a quiet room with her mind and clear her thoughts.
Working yourself to the bone is also a common way to avoid your thoughts – you can’t think too much about something if you’re too tired to think about anything. Truthfully, I can write and write about this song, but for times sake and also for the trees, I won’t.
Another song that stuck out to me was “My Love Mine All Mine.” This is one of the more popular songs, even accompanied by its own music video back in September. I love this song, and so do a whole bunch of other people. It is the most streamed song from the TLIASAW album. The song is short, but it gets its message across pretty good within those two minutes and 17 seconds.
“My Love Mine All Mine” is a mood-setting song, the moment this song is turned on it puts you into a yearning, depressed state. The lyrics in the chorus are very heart-wrenching, “Nothing in the world belongs to me / But my love, mine, all mine, all mine.” Some may take the song in its entirety as a love song about another person, but it can also be a love song about oneself.
“I’m Your Man,” is the tenth song on the tracklist, and it is one of the saddest songs on the album, in my opinion. The lyrics tell a story about a woman’s relationship and how she regrets how she took the love her lover had for granted before their relationship fell apart. Her word choices are very unique when describing their relationship, “You’re an angel, I’m a dog / Or You’re a dog and I’m your man,” Mitski puts her lover on a high pedestal by calling them an angel, and then referring to herself as a dog – creating further distance within their dynamic.
But then, she changes the dynamic by referring her lover to a dog and herself a man, completely changing where they stand in the relationship. One thing I love about this song is the recurring theme of angels and dogs, as per the ending of the song. At the end, the background music is just an angelic choir singing and a bunch of dogs barking simultaneously, combining to create a surprisingly harmonic ambiance. It feels very heavenly and echoey, and it really brings the song together.
“The Land is Inhabitable and So Are We Are” is an album I can go on and on about, there’s just so many layers and depths within every song on the tracklist. Overall, this is probably one of my favorite Mitski albums as of now, and it is definitely a must-listen if you love sad, depressing, emotional music.