After much teasing, Mitski has finally returned with plans for a new full-length record. Today, she announces Laurel Hell, arriving February 4 on Dead Oceans.
Following the release of 2018's Be the Cowboy, the artist announced an indefinite hiatus back in 2019. That period has evidently come to an end, and we're now due for a fresh batch of new tunes, ahead of a string of previously announced tour dates in 2022.
"I got to a point," Mitski explained of her absence in a release, "where I just knew that if I kept going this way, I would numb myself to completion."
She continued:
I needed love songs about real relationships that are not power struggles to be won or lost. I needed songs that could help me forgive both others and myself. I make mistakes all the time. I don't want to put on a front where I'm a role model, but I'm also not a bad person. I needed to create this space mostly for myself where I sat in that gray area.
Following the release of lead single "Working for the Knife" in early October, Mitski has shared another new track from the effort. "The Only Heartbreaker" — which she co-wrote with Dan Wilson — marks the second off of Laurel Hell. It arrives with its own video co-directed by Maegan Houang and Jeff Desom.
As Mitski explained of the track, it depicts "the person always messing up in the relationship, the designated Bad Guy who gets the blame. It could simply be about that, but I also wanted to depict something sadder beneath the surface, that maybe the reason you're always the one making mistakes is because you're the only one trying."
Watch the video for "The Only Heartbreaker" below, where you'll also find the album's tracklisting.
Laurel Hell:
1. Valentine, Texas
2. Working for the Knife
3. Stay Soft
4. Everyone
5. Heat Lightning
6. The Only Heartbreaker
7. Love Me More
8. There's Nothing Left for You
9. Should've Been Me
10. I Guess
11. That's Our Lamp
Pre-order Laurel Hell.
Following the release of 2018's Be the Cowboy, the artist announced an indefinite hiatus back in 2019. That period has evidently come to an end, and we're now due for a fresh batch of new tunes, ahead of a string of previously announced tour dates in 2022.
"I got to a point," Mitski explained of her absence in a release, "where I just knew that if I kept going this way, I would numb myself to completion."
She continued:
I needed love songs about real relationships that are not power struggles to be won or lost. I needed songs that could help me forgive both others and myself. I make mistakes all the time. I don't want to put on a front where I'm a role model, but I'm also not a bad person. I needed to create this space mostly for myself where I sat in that gray area.
Following the release of lead single "Working for the Knife" in early October, Mitski has shared another new track from the effort. "The Only Heartbreaker" — which she co-wrote with Dan Wilson — marks the second off of Laurel Hell. It arrives with its own video co-directed by Maegan Houang and Jeff Desom.
As Mitski explained of the track, it depicts "the person always messing up in the relationship, the designated Bad Guy who gets the blame. It could simply be about that, but I also wanted to depict something sadder beneath the surface, that maybe the reason you're always the one making mistakes is because you're the only one trying."
Watch the video for "The Only Heartbreaker" below, where you'll also find the album's tracklisting.
Laurel Hell:
1. Valentine, Texas
2. Working for the Knife
3. Stay Soft
4. Everyone
5. Heat Lightning
6. The Only Heartbreaker
7. Love Me More
8. There's Nothing Left for You
9. Should've Been Me
10. I Guess
11. That's Our Lamp
Pre-order Laurel Hell.
