Nothing's About to Happen to Me by Mitski
Mitski has always intrigued me, but I've never been able to fully get into her music. Many artists I listen to are compared to her1 and grouped into the same category she helped define: sad girl indie music.
Now, I personally dislike the term, as it feels like an unfair descriptor for a style of music that brings comfort to many listeners and often has great lyrical depth. However, of course, with that said, Mitski's lyrics have, for the lack of a better word, veered towards the depressing.
With this new release, Mitski brings her clean vocals and production back into full swing! This time around she brings beautiful strings as in Dead Women that's akin to a lite version of a James Bond movie theme song, and varies her usually slow-paced singing with the track Rules that has her singing about losing her sense of self against an upbeat, jolly jig.
Throughout my handful of full listens through the album, I noticed that, although Mitski's songs are often on the shorter side (i.e. only 4 of 11 songs on her previous album were 3 minutes or longer), Nothing's About to Happen to Me has her strongest writing in terms of giving me just enough to feel satisfied2 but not too much that it overextends the total playtime. This is the most balanced album Mitski has had for me.
If I could describe the album with just a phrase, it would be "calm tragedy". Mitski sings through themes of loss, death, and the self, with an incredibly controlled voice and melody that I can't help but focus on what she says.
If you have never tried Mitski, I think this is a safe album to start off with!
Three Songs to Start With: Where's My Phone, Dead Women, Lightning
Words That Lingered
For if I lost it, somebody else will cheer you
But who else could love me
Quite as kindly as you?— If I Leave