Mitski released her eighth studio album — the latest in a strong stretch of collections of deeply personal anthems — titled “Nothing’s About to Happen to Me” Feb. 27. It has eleven tracks that run for a total of 34 minutes in which Mitski’s haunting voice and masterful arrangements shine through to create a powerful album of heartache and wanting. Mitski's ability to capture raw emotion, appeal to the cynic and play with metaphors has always been her strength. She showcases this talent on her two biggest hit songs from her previous albums, “My Love Mine All Mine” and “Washing Machine Heart,” and her newest album maintained that reputation.
Her previous album, “The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We” came out in 2023. It contains “My Love Mine All Mine” — her viral hit that boasts 1.8 billion streams on Spotify and 6.8 million videos on TikTok and led her to play 80 shows worldwide in 2024. Based on her recent success, “Nothing’s About to Happen to Me” — which Mitski announced on her Instagram account Jan. 16 — became a highly anticipated project.
“Nothing’s About to Happen to Me” begins with a simple lament of her first love titled “In a Lake.” The abundant metaphors and descriptive language are characteristic of Mitski, but the plucking banjo and use of a soft accordion and trombone deliver a unique twist on her typical sound. She sings of escaping her small town life and love with the lyrics “Where you never get away from your first love / It's like one brand of soap's sold in town / ‘Cause anyone you can get close to / Smells like your first time around.” Just as the music trails away, a car horn sounds and the music crescendos suddenly over the soundscape of a city. “In a Lake” balances the line between remaining true to Mitski’s aesthetic and giving the listener something new, making it a strong choice to start the album.
Mitski transitions expertly from softer songs like “In a Lake” to more energetic songs like the album’s only single and second track “Where’s My Phone?” The overwhelming sensation of the electric guitars and drums reflect Mitski’s feeling of hopelessness through a loss of self from phone addiction and the way her mind is shaped by the media she encounters every day online. She expresses this when she sings, “I just want my mind to be a clear glass / Clear glass with nothing in my head.” Mitski appeals to listeners with her frustrations, and her ability to reflect such a universal yet deep emotion makes this song stand out on the album.
In the heart of the album are three songs that sound very typically Mitski — titled “If I Leave,” “Dead Women” and “Instead of Here” — encapsulating the dark, almost uncanny, aesthetic the artist curates through this album. “Dead Women” sounds especially haunting because the song is dominated by dramatic string instruments and Mitski’s deep, rich voice. While these songs are beautiful, Mitski could have benefited from branching out, as these songs are both somewhat sonically and thematically derivative of the work on her previous albums.
She reinvestigates the same loss of self explored in “Where’s My Phone?” in the ninth track, “That White Cat.” This track is a direct reference to the cover art of “Nothing’s About to Happen to Me” which features a painting of a white cat with one brown eye and one blue eye. Mitski’s voice in “That White Cat” is raw with emotion as she describes a cat claiming the territory of her own home, with the singer losing her ownership and grasp on reality in the process. By exploring a loss of self and calling back the album cover, Mitski strengthens her album thematically and aesthetically, a motif she returns to across all of the tracks.
She also references cats in the third track, called “Cats,” where she sings, “‘Cause I still love you, so I won't leave you / Guess it's up to you if you choose to go / In the meantime, rescues at my side / Our two cats, both asleep by me tonight.” Mitski’s ability to create vivid descriptions of emotion and place shine in both of these songs.
In a jolting juxtaposition from the three previous slower songs, Mitski surprises listeners with “Rules,” a jolly tune featuring accompanying trumpets in the background. She uses the track to play with irony, as her energetic tune is not matched by her lyrics. She sings of feeling drained by love with the lines, “I will be somеbody else / And when I lеave my body / Please pretend that you don't see / How I'm no longer there behind my eyes.” She begins and ends the song counting up and down from five, representing the rules of relationships she sings about in the song and proselytizes to prospective partners. By the end of the song, the keys, drums and guitars begin to play discordantly and the happy tune vanishes, reinforcing the chaotic mental state that is present throughout the album. If one listens closely, they can hear cats meowing with every chord.
“Rules,” “In a Lake,” and “Charon’s Obol” — the project’s 10th track — are three of the strongest songs on the album, and they are the most different from Mitski’s usual sound, also featuring a resounding orchestra. “Nothing’s About to Happen to Me” would have benefited from more use of the orchestra to give the audience a more dynamic listening experience while making the album more cohesive sonically.
Despite this, “Nothing’s About to Happen to Me” was nothing short of a complex emotional journey. She maintains her unique sound and aesthetic while exploring orchestral instruments and complex, layered lyricism. Mitski is clearly committed to being vulnerable and telling an authentic story of the human experience through her latest album. Beginning in early March, she will go on tour starting in New York City and terminating, for now, in London.
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