Laurel hell / Mitski.
Material type:
MusicPublisher number: DEDO250 | Dead OceansDOC250 | Dead OceansPublisher: [Bloomington, IN] : Dead Oceans, [2022]Description: 1 audio disc (32 min., 25 sec.) : CD audio, stereo ; 4 3/4 inContent type: - performed music
- audio
- audio disc
- Produced by Patick Hyland.
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult CD
|
Northport Library | CD | POP/ROCK Mitski | Available | 33111009970837 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Stepping back into her own shoes after the character-driven Be the Cowboy, Laurel Hell finds Mitski in a less volatile, more (but not completely) resigned state of mind as she reflects on persistent incompatibility with partners, perceived disinterest in what she has to offer, and an overriding ennui. While much of the album was written prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, she found new meaning in songs that were recorded with longtime producer Patrick Hyland in the midst of prolonged periods of isolation -- a theme closely associated with Mitski's work since long before the viral threat. A bit of a slow builder with an almost cinematic trajectory, Laurel Hell begins with a droning, monotone pop and the lyrics "Let's step carefully into the dark/Once we're in, I'll remember my way around." That song, "Valentine, Texas," eventually introduces the slick '80s pop surfaces employed throughout Laurel Hell, with its shimmering synths, electric piano, and business-like drums often seeming like a false front given the deeply brooding nature of the album's lyrics. Even so, with 11 tracks clocking in at a total of around 30 minutes, Mitski gets to the point when she laments oppressive systems on "Working for the Knife," when she examines being drawn to darkness against a backdrop of industrial synths and late, swelling strings on "Everyone," and when demanding more of her lover on the driving synth pop track "Love Me More," which also includes the devastating stanza, "How do other people live?/I wonder how they keep it up/When today is finally done/There's another day to come/Then another day to come/Then another day to come." Following the exhausted, piano-based breakup dirge "I Guess" ("I guess this is the end/I'll have to learn to be somebody else"), Mitski closes the album on the sparkling, highly melodic "That's Our Lamp," which disco dances into the sunset while remembering being loved -- in the past tense. ~ Marcy Donelson
Title from disc label.
Performed by Mitski, vocals ; with additional musicians.
Produced by Patick Hyland.
All songs written by Mitski, except "the only heartbreaker" written by Mitski and Dan Wilson.
Valentine, Texas (2:35) -- Working for the knife (2:38) -- Stay soft (3:16) -- Everyone (3:47) -- Heat lightning (2:51) -- The only heartbreaker (3:04) -- Love me more (3:32) -- There's nothing left for you (2:52) -- Should've been me (3:11) -- I guess (2:15) -- That's our lamp (2:24).
With this release, Mitski cements her reputation as an artist in possession of such power, capable of using her talent to perform the alchemy that turns the most savage and alienated experiences into the very elixir that cures them. Her last album, Be the Cowboy, built on the breakout acclaim of 2016's Puberty 2 and launched her from cult favorite to indie star. Like the mountain laurels for this new album is named, public perception, like the intoxicating prism of the internet, can offer an alluring façade that obscures a deadly trap. Exhausted by this warped mirror, and our addiction to false binaries, she began writing songs that stripped away the masks and revealed the complex and often-contradictory realities behind them. Mitski has written a soundtrack for transformation, a map to the place where vulnerability and resilience, sorrow and delight, error and transcendence can all sit within humanity, can all be seen as worthy of acknowledgment, and ultimately, love.