A little over a year and a half after the release of her album, “Laurel Hell” Mitski returns with her seventh album, “The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We.”  It includes 11 songs, each written by Mitski and produced by Patrick Hyland along with a 17-person choir featured on several tracks. Mitski delivers a collection of songs with contemplative, melancholic lyrics and dramatic orchestral accompaniments. 

Opening with the album’s lead single, “Bug Like an Angel,” the song combines orchestral harmonies with poetic lyrics to narrate the story of alcohol addiction and its unwavering control on the song’s character’s life. “Heaven,” the album’s second single, includes a full symphony to accompany Mitski’s powerful vocals. She portrays the tenderness of love with similes like “Now I bend like a willow/ Thinking of you” and  “Like a murmuring brook/Curvin’ about you.”  

The following songs use the same ballad style mixed with grand orchestral breaks, a motif throughout the entire album. “I Don’t Like My Mind” and “The Deal” use angsty lyrics to explore feelings of regret and mental exhaustion. “When Memories Snow” reflects on Mitski’s habit of pushing her unwanted memories away as a method of coping and how this proves to be harmful to her mental well-being.  

Taking a slight turn from the so far dark mood of the album, “My Love Mine All Mine” opens slowly, with steady drums and soft guitar strums. Lyrics like “Moon, tell me if I could/Send my heart up to you?” and “So, when I die, which I must do/Could it shine down here with you?” craft a bittersweet song about Mitski’s relentless and unwavering desire for her lover. 

Playing over a folk sounding instrumental, “The Frost” captures the feeling of loneliness by telling the story of a lone survivor on earth, with lyrics such as “Now the world is mine alone,” and “It’s just witness-less me.” The next two songs, “Star” and “I’m Your Man” feature metaphors, elaborate vocals and symphonic arrangements. 

The album closes with “I Love Me After You.” Mitski’s soft humming transitions to dynamic proclamations of power, with the lyrics “King of all the land” and “Streets are mine, the night is mine” delivering an ode to self love and freedom after leaving a past relationship. 

“The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We” employs  Mitski’s classic style of symbolic lyrics with intricate instrumentals to travel through a world filled with solitude and regret, but also love and triumph. 

4 snowflakes out of 5