Mitski: The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We (LP)

Sometimes, says Mitski, it feels like life would be easier without hope, without soul, without love. But when she closes her eyes and thinks about what really belongs to her, what can't be taken back or destroyed, she sees love. "The best thing I ever did in my life was love people," says Mitski. "I wish I could leave all the love I have behind after I die so I can spread all the good, all the good love I've created to other people." She hopes that "The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We" will continue to radiate this love long after her death. Listening to the album, it feels exactly like that: like a love that haunts the land. In this album, which is Mitski's most expansive, epic and clever yet, the songs seem to open wounds and then actively heal them. Here, love is a journey through time to bless our tender days, like the light of a distant star. The album is full of the longing of grown-up, seemingly banal heartaches and joys that are often unsung but feel enormous. From the bottom of a jar to a driveway covered in memories and snow, from a freight train thundering through the Midwest to the moon, it feels like everything and everyone is letting out a cry, screaming in pain and writhing for love. Mitski has been writing these songs in small spurts over the past few years, and they're characterized by moments of noticing - noticing a sound out of place, a building groaning in decay, an opinion splitting a room, a feeling that can't be contained in a body. Recorded at both the Bomb Shelter in East Nashville and Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles, it features an orchestra arranged and conducted by Drew Erickson and a full choir of 17 - 12 in Los Angeles and 5 in Nashville - arranged by Mitski. For the first time, Mitski felt it was important to have a band recording together in the studio to create this new sublime sound. Working with their longtime producer Patrick Hyland, the album has a wide range of references, from Ennio Morricone's bombastic spaghetti western scores to Carter Burwell's tundra-filling Fargo soundtrack, from the breathy intimacy of Arthur Russell to the strident vibrancy of Scott Walker or Igor Stravinsky, from the joy of Caetano Veloso to the yearning of Faron Young.