Japanese-American singer and songwriter Mitski bloomed into the indie music scene with her first album “Lush” in 2013. This album captured the defining feeling of broken romances, insecurities of womanhood and the spiraling pit into depression. These themes followed Mitski into her later work with albums such as “Be the Cowboy,” “Bury me at Makeout Creek,” and most recently her 2023 fall release “The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We.” “The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We” was released on Sept. 15, 2023 under the indie record label Dead Oceans. Dead Oceans manages the likes of Phoebe Bridgers, Slowdive and Japanese Breakfast.
The album opens with “Bug Like an Angel,” the first single of the album. The opening song sets the mood of the album as it starts with an acoustic strum that follows with Mitski’s voice echoing through before being followed with soft piano and booming choir vocals in the bridge, this song alone truly reflects Mitski’s artistic style. It fills the listeners with a sense of loneliness and throughout the lyrics there are many references to religion and wrath. In one particular line in the song “Bug Like an Angel,” Mitski sings “I try to remember the wrath of the devil Was also given him by God.” This lyric acts as a storytelling piece for this album, as do most Mitski lyrics.
One of the more popular songs off this album is the seventh track “My Love Mine All Mine.” The song starts out with a somber piano followed by a sliding guitar joining in as Mitski sings about conversing with the moon above her head. Mitski uses her descriptive writing to craft heartbreaking lyrics to the chorus of this song in which Mitski sings “Nothing in the world belongs to me, but my love, mine, all mine, all mine.”
Throughout the album it feels as if the listener is taken on a trip through despair, loneliness, and yearning. These themes play a big part throughout the album and throughout Mitski’s other compilations, despite a handful of her songs having an upbeat indie-pop sound. “The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We” scored an 8.1 rating on Pitchfork.
