Album Review: Laurel Hell by Mitski

 

Album: Laurel Hell
Artist: Mitski
Release Date: February 4, 2022
Label: Dead Oceans
Favorite Tracks:

• Valentine, Texas
• Working for the Knife
• The Only Heartbreaker
• Love Me More
• That’s Our Lamp

Thoughts: This blog has long supported Mitski, so I was eager to hear her first album since 2018’s Be the Cowboy.  We’re lucky to have this album as Mitski came close to retiring and the lyrics of the songs deal with her uneasy relationship with stardom.  The music is appropriately downbeat compared to prior outings, although it also seems to fit a trend where artists like Billie Eilish and Courtney Barnett have also slowed down on their most recent releases. Although that’s not true for all the tracks, such as the energetic 80s synthpop style of “The Only Heartbreaker.”
Rating: ****

Album of the Week 2022

January

• Olivia Rodrigo – Sour
• Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever
• Adele –30 
• Tran Uy Duc – Came
• Yard Act – The Overload
• Aoife O’Donovan – Age of Apathy

February

• Tanya Taqaq – Tongues
• Various Artists – Summer of Soul soundtrack