On 'Laurel Hell,' Mitski is working for the knife, one album at a time
Since her self-released debut album “Lush” — recorded while she was still a student at SUNY Purchase College's Conservatory of Music — Mitski has been grappling with the big questions. On the haunting track “Abbey,” she wonders what she is meant to be and describes the feeling of waiting for “that something / just to want something.” It’s chilling to listen to these lyrics now that Mitski has “made it,” having released critically acclaimed album after album and boasting nearly ten million monthly listeners on Spotify. On her latest album, “Laurel Hell,” Mitski may no longer be asking as many forward-looking questions, but she instead contemplates her past naïveté and reveals her enduring insecurities and yearnings in her signature visceral style.