After a four-year hiatus, Mitsuki Laycock (commonly known as Mitski) returns with another album, Laurel Hell. Released in February 2022, the album doubles as an ode to Mitski’s poor attempts of having a healthy relationship with her love and the toxic relationship concerning her and the music industry. In her previous album, she kept within the confines of art-pop and indie rock, but this album pays homage to the nostalgic feel of 80’s synth-pop and combines it with the haunting ballads with simple chord progressions that at as a backdrop for Mitski’s introspective lyrics concerning her relationship and the niggling feeling of not quite feeling happy despite commercial success.

Mitski makes it her own by crooning out these lyrics, her low tone creating an atmosphere that belongs in a haunted gothic castle

‘Valentine, Texas’ sets the tone of the album, with melancholy vocals accompanied with long sustained synthesised chords that detail Mitski’s concerns of ‘Who will I be tonight.’ The song is slow-moving and feels as though it doesn’t do anything too spectacular on the instrumental front, until the burst into a crescendo after the line ‘wet teeth, shining eyes glimmering by a fire.’ The second half of the song is easily influenced by 80’s pop synth, but Mitski makes it her own by crooning out these lyrics, her low tone creating an atmosphere that belongs in a haunted gothic castle. This song’s second half is the premonition that tells us once again, Mitski will explore the nature of songs that sound as though they should be upbeat and happy, but the lyrical content details otherwise.

She did this with songs on previous albums such as ‘Nobody’ and she continues this tradition with upbeat songs such as ‘Should’ve Been Me,’ ‘Stay Soft’ and ‘The Only Heartbreaker’ but the lyrical content is introspective and details depressing realities. Mitski has always prioritised lyricism over the instrumentation, and this is indicative of songs such as ‘Valentine, Texas,’ rich in metaphor and abstract imagery, full of ‘dust devils’ and ‘clouds like mountains’ that describe a town in Texas named after Valentine’s Day, but in contrast, the backing track is quite simplistic and bare, with little musical variation and empty space within the song. Mitski has done this in the past with tracks like ‘Washing Machine heart’ but what is different about this album, is that it varies between simplistic, stripped back instrumentals and intricate backing tracks.

Mitski has always had stunning lyricism but what is different with this album is the instrumentation

Patrick Hyland, who produced the album put these two different sounds alongside each other in the album, battling between the 80s synthesised sound and long sustained ballads with stirring vocals. I think the stark contrast in instrumentation is felt most heavily in the shift from the song ‘There’s nothing left for you,’ an ambient ballad, to ‘Should’ve been me’ an 80s pop-rock hit with lyrics that once again contradict this mood with regretful, sad musings on the isolation felt in a relationship as a consequence of poor communication. Yet this juxtaposition of sound is a contrast to her previous albums which contained a fusion of styles, but here this clear distinction adds to the album’s overall message that details the feeling of being stuck, whether it be in a relationship or career-wise. Mitski explores this trapped feeling in commercial success, in songs such as ‘Everyone’ and ‘Heat Lighting,’ where she admits ‘there’s nothing I can do…not much I can change’ and she repeats this mantra throughout the song. Repetition is a device she uses throughout the album, and it is seen in songs hailing from Be The Cowboy, a device that works in reemphasising the song’s overall message and making the lyricism feel more potent.

Mitski has always had stunning lyricism but what is different with this album is the instrumentation. This album does not only focus on the lyrics, she attempts to build up her song’s overall messages through rich backing tracks, florid in synthesised chords, ornamentation, and sharp dynamic changes. The double meanings found in her lyrics that simultaneously describe her struggles with the music industry and her failing lover is re-emphasized by the shifting genre. From ballads to 80s-esque upbeat songs, she accurately hones the feeling of being stuck and not feeling as one quite belongs.

Rating: 3.5/5

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