Mitski shares ‘Stay Soft’ video

To celebrate the release of her new album ‘Laurel Hell’, Mitski has shared the video for ‘Stay Soft’. “This video is heavily inspired by Romanticism and paintings and artwork from the Victorian era,” director Maegan Houng says. “Like the lyrics of the song ‘Stay Soft,’ paintings from that era have a gentle quality, but they still evoke a certain feeling of unexplored darkness and danger. I want the audience to feel safe within this fabricated world and then realize that the character Mitski plays is being hunted. The violence lurking beneath the surface emerges, and yet is still transformed into something beautiful via dance. Through the dance sequence, Mitski’s character is able to conquer the violence, but not without irreparable harm to her psyche.” Mitski adds, “‘Stay Soft’ was a more straightforward rock song when I wrote it on guitar, but the darkly sexual lyrics sung in that context felt too heavy and melodramatic. So we couched the depressing lyrics in an inviting dance beat, which is a trick people have used for hundreds of years. The remnants of the original grungy feeling can be heard starting at the instrumental interlude, when the distorted guitar comes in. “This song, frankly, is about hurt people finding each other, and using sex to make sense of their pain. This is by no means the correct way to cope with trauma, but it’s a thing people do regardless, and I always want to write songs about what we actually do, so that we don’t feel alone in them.” Watch the video below, and check out our full review of ‘Laurel Hell’ here. See Mitski live at the following dates: FEBRUARY 17 - Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel - SOLD OUT 18 - Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz - SOLD OUT 19 - Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern - SOLD OUT 21 - Birmingham, AL @ Iron City - SOLD OUT 22 - New Orleans, LA @ Civic Theatre - SOLD OUT 24 - Houston, TX @ The Lawn at White Oak Music Hall - SOLD OUT 25 - Dallas, TX @ The Factory in Deep Ellum - SOLD OUT 26 - Austin, TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater - SOLD OUT 28 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren - SOLD OUT MARCH 02 - Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Exposition Hall - SOLD OUT 03 - Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Exposition Hall - SOLD OUT 04 - Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater - SOLD OUT 05 - Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater - SOLD OUT 07 - Portland, OR @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall - SOLD OUT 09 - Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre - SOLD OUT 10 - Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre - SOLD OUT 12 - Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom - SOLD OUT 14 - St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre - SOLD OUT 15 - Milwaukee, WI @ Miller High Life Theatre - SOLD OUT 17 - Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple Theatre - SOLD OUT 18 - Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall - SOLD OUT 19 - Montreal, QC @ St-Jean-Baptiste Church - SOLD OUT 21 - Boston, MA @ Roadrunner - SOLD OUT 22 - Boston, MA @ Roadrunner - SOLD OUT 24 - New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall - SOLD OUT 25 - Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall - SOLD OUT 26 - Washington, DC @ The Anthem - SOLD OUT 27 - Washington, DC @ The Anthem - SOLD OUT 29 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE - SOLD OUT 30 - Louisville, KY @ Old Forester’s Paristown Hall - SOLD OUT 31 - Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium - SOLD OUT APRIL 21 - Bristol, UK @ Marble Factory - SOLD OUT 22 - Leeds, UK @ University Union Refectory - SOLD OUT 23 - Glasgow, UK @ Barrowland Ballroom - SOLD OUT 25 - Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street - SOLD OUT 26 - Manchester, UK @ Manchester Academy - SOLD OUT 28 - London, UK @ The Roundhouse - SOLD OUT 29 - London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton - SOLD OUT 30 - Brussels, BE @ Les Nuits Botanique Festival - SOLD OUT MAY 02 - Tourcoing, FR @ Le Grand Mix - SOLD OUT 03 - Paris, FR @ L’Olympia - SOLD OUT 04 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso - SOLD OUT 06 - Zurich, CH @ Kaufleuten 07 - Lausanne, CH @ Les Docks SOLD OUT 09 - Berlin, DE @ Metropol - SOLD OUT 10 - Copenhagen, DK @ Vega - SOLD OUT 11 - Stockholm, SE @ Fållan SOLD OUT 12 - Oslo, NO @ Sentrum Scene SOLD OUT 14 - Hamburg, DE @ Fabrik - SOLD OUT 15 - Cologne, DE