Mitski Returns From Lengthy Hiatus With 'Laurel Hell'
The followup to ‘Be the Cowboy’ is finally here.
After four long years, Mitski is finally back with her brand new album Laurel Hell.
The 11-track record clocks in just a little over half an hour and marks her first full-length effort since 2018’s Be the Cowboy. A bulk of the material hears Mitski address her own problems with her career in music — which she opted to leave behind a few years ago — and how she has wrestled with this industry and its demands from her. Fans don’t really get a conclusion from the 31-year-old artist, meaning they will have to wait and see if a followup will ever come to fruition.
“I felt it was shaving away my soul little by little,” Mitski told Rolling Stone of Be the Cowboy’s success. “The music industry is this supersaturated version of consumerism. You are the product being consumed, bought, and sold. Even the people on your team who are your friends, the very foundation of your dynamic is that they get a percentage of your income. Every time I turned something down, it would mean that they would make less money.”
She added, however, that the break was good for her, “I had physically neglected my health because I was on tour so much. I didn’t have health insurance. Basically during all of my twenties, I had no time or space to figure out who I am. I needed to actually figure out how to take care of my body.”
Stream Mitksi’s Laurel Hell on Spotify and Apple Music.
In other music news, Nicki Minaj revealed why her Kanye West collab “New Body” was never released.
