Three years after “The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We,” Mitski illuminates the tail end of winter with a new album of staggering beauty, where felines reign supreme.
For a long time, pop culture led us to believe—through its depictions in films and television—that women who broke with the protocol laid down by patriarchy would end up alone, mired in a heavy sadness and forever shunned by men… with only one or two cats for companionship offering meager consolation. A misogynistic imagery that Mitski reclaims in a new album titled Nothing’s About to Happen to Me: she sketches the contours of a tranquil life, free, tinted with joys, sometimes with remorse, mostly without men… But never without her white cat, who, beyond posing majestically on the album cover, has made its home at her side and clearly depends on her to cover the rent.
“Gotta go to work/To pay for that cat’s house/For the red corseted wasp/Who lives in the roof […] And the birds who eat those bugs/So that white cat can kill the birds”, she sings in That White Cat, displaying a clear willingness to sacrifice for animals. After all, isn’t it more fulfilling to bend over backwards for them than for a lazy man? The answer seems obvious.
The Cats Still Keep a Watchful Eye
Men can be neglectful, some disappointing, others even violent. Through the lyrics of Dead Women, Mitski imagines how dark things can become: “Would you have liked me better if I’d died/So you could tell my story/The way it ought to be” […] “While I dream of flying, stab me twenty seven times”. The singer wonders if voicing such a song serves as a shield against it all?
Death lurks softly in more than one track (living a peaceful life with her cats does not exempt her from this fate). “I was lying on the floor/With Death crouching beside me” […] “Death said I’d called/Not knowing that I did”—she croons in Instead of Here. Whether facing the end or bidding farewell to a damaged love, the musician knows her two felines “watch over this place”, she sings softly in Cats.
Subtle Orchestral Arrangements
While some tracks seem tormented, there is a certain lightness that wafts through the album. This comes courtesy of the multitude of instruments peppering the record with delicate textures: accordion, organ, banjo, trombone, clarinet, horn, pedal steel, violin, cello, vibraphone… They weave in and out, enriching each song and guiding us through different aesthetics: from the folk of In a Lake to the jazzy contours of I’ll Change for You, to the immediate rock energy of Where’s My Phone.
The instrumental parts of the album were recorded in Los Angeles, at Sunset Sound and TTG Studios, by an orchestra conducted by Drew Erickson. Through this collaborative effort, paired with Mitski’s unparalleled songwriting talent and a decidedly poetic approach to music, she expands her discography with a masterwork that has everything it takes to linger in memory.
Nothing’s About to Happen to Me (Dead Oceans/Modulor). Out February 27.
