While the brevity leaves Mitski’s usual writing style lacking in desirable melodic structures, ‘The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We’ and its swerve to Americana retains Mitski’s sharp writing all the same.
The 2020s embark on a new refreshing arc for Mitski after being on hiatus post-Be The Cowboy. Returning in 2022 with ‘Laurel Hell’ offers a refreshing wave of spark for her, embracing a lot of bubbling synthpop that flatters her compact yet striking melodies to date. That quality also garners a new layer of deepened space in her writing, wherein all of those reflections on relationships are now accompanied by a metatextual flair that only strengthens that emotive core. As a result, it’s not just a return from Mitski post-hiatus but also showcases compelling depths in her skill as a writer and musician, leading to excitement on where she will be heading onwards on that next project.
What is surprising is that the next project came much sooner than what was otherwise expected. ‘The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We’ came pretty much at the ready since it was first announced a few months ago, with a swerve towards Americana that may as well be a zone where her concise melodies and sharp writing fit to a tee. In Mitski’s usual lyrical fashion, she explores emotionally stung themes of heartbreak and depression coaxed alongside the metatextual layer surrounding her musicianship. On ‘I Don’t Like My Mind’ and onwards, that metatext leaps on the page as that depressive state of mind takes hold of Mitski (“A whole cake, so please don’t take / This job from me”). There is a sense of lonesome in that arc, with Mitski continuing to keep reflecting for herself, like a lone ranger in places where they’ll keep on walking to find the answers they wish to seek. Yet, despite those morose thoughts, she eventually finds focus to seek that love for herself. To quote on ‘I Love Me After You’, “How I love me after you / King of all the land”, a statement of her finally gaining her agency after what she has gone through.
And through that hazy americana soundscape, Mitski’s melodic cornerstones find enough space for them to grow. ‘Bug Like an Angel’ with its spare acoustics spearheads into the chorus with a grand chorale accompanying Mitski’s somber presence, the string kissed ‘Heaven’ progresses to an upward sweep, the glassy instrumentation of ‘Star’ keeps shimmering brighter through the escapade of strings and synths, the shuffling vocal mix of ‘The Deal’ with fleeting guitar strums is rolled over by the blasts of percussion, the hazy intimacy of ‘My Love Mine All Mine’ is approached with the tempered pedal steel and piano, and ‘I’m Your Man’ with its strident instrumentation is accompanied by looming backing vocals as well as the rabid barking of dogs.
Yet, while Mitski’s style of composition and lyricism still works a lot, the formula does start to lose its shine, especially on this record. While the choice to swing into Americana is a natural fit for Mitski, the compositions could've gotten a bit more room and length as Americana works a lot more when the melodies offer more than just the peaks. And that’s where the problem lies here, Mitski’s compositions tend to focus more on being concise, focusing on having sharper moments and not tending to work on progressions leading up and after that. On ‘Laurel Hell’, that didn’t matter much because leaning on synthpop with a bit more flash on the instrumentation means that the compositions manage to work a lot more in Mitski’s favor, but here, that conciseness doesn’t always work well, leaving a lot of these cuts to end up abbreviated rather than stretched out to let those sharper melodies stick a lot more. And even though the shoddy mix is intentional for what the album focuses on, it can get distracting. Even more so due to the tasteful array of strings, guitars, and percussion used in this project that does need that consistent clarity.
‘The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We’ is still a great addition to Mitski’s discography, especially given her comeback project just last year where the genre shifts allowed her to create her best album thus far. Yet, the way she creates her melodies and writing don’t exactly land exceptionally in the choice to lean on Americana, only letting her melodies feel immediate but not exactly gripping, and her writing becomes stirring but not transcendent. That, paired with shaky mixing and mastering works for what the project is about but only becomes distracting and just does not work with the organic instrumentation that’s delivered with tasteful flair. Despite those frustrations, she’s able to potently execute the arc that Mitski wants to present, where, in her way of walking through places that will crash and burn everyone to the ground, she finds the space to heal. For herself, and herself specifically.
Favorite Tracks: ‘Bug Like an Angel’, ‘Heaven’, ‘The Deal’, ‘ My Love Mine All Mine’, ‘Star’, ‘I’m Your Man’
Least Favorite Track: ‘When Memories Snow’