On February 27,, Mitski released her eighth studio album “Nothing’s About to Happen to Me.” The album follows a narrator on a melancholic journey while also maintaining her indie-rock roots. This album features two singles she released earlier in the year: “Where’s My Phone?” (released Jan.16) and “I’ll Change For You” (released Feb. 3).
Mitski posted a series on Instagram of her hinting at her new album. The first was simply her cooking in a kitchen, and the second was her throwing herself on the floor and whispering the album’s title repeatedly. Another featured her typing the release date into a calculator. These themes show how she’s really immersing herself into the narrational character who’s very reclusive and free in her own home.
WMC Sophomore, Gemma Sloan, has been listening to Mitski since her childhood after being introduced to it by her mother. She has so far found the album to be enjoyable despite the new music style.
Sloan finds that she feels this way because her favorite album by Mitski–Laurel Hell–follows a similar genre with a few songs. “I definitely was not expecting a release like this because in the past Mitski chooses to style her songs with anger and sadness,” she stated. “While this album definitely still has those themes, she hides them behind fun pop-rock tracks like ‘That White Cat’ and ‘Rules.’” Mitski using the third person in this album was “unique” according to Sloan, and she’s previously enjoyed albums that used third person to tell a story.
Another WMC Sophomore, Nicolas Murillo, also listened to the new album and had a different experience. He’s been listening to Mitski’s music for about two years and discovered her through her more popular songs. “Many of the songs felt the same, especially in the beginning of each song,” Murillo stated. “Of course some were different but ultimately most sounded the same with different words or a different sounding chorus.”
He’s happy to see Mitski writing an album from a third person perspective because he thinks that “when you only sing about your life it can get boring and tiring.” He believes that a new perspective will prevent her from running out of things to make songs about.
So far, this new album is getting some mixed feedback from WMC students, and social media. Hopefully her potential future releases will have a more consistent positive reaction from fans.
