Mitski - Nothing’s About To Happen To Me

Of an ever-increasing list of artists finding a wider fanbase via online virality, Mitski is perhaps the most unlikely. Taken from her 2018 album ‘Be the Cowboy’, the beautifully nostalgic ‘Nobody’ found a whole new life on TikTok two years later, rocketing the Stateside singer-songwriter headfirst into the mind of a whole new generation. And it turned out that was just the start, as ‘My Love Mine All Mine’ garnered similar attention to propel 2023’s ‘The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We’ into the charts as her most commercially successful release to date. 

At least on the surface, it sits at odds with the orchestral arrangements that underpin this, her eighth studio album - one that, like much of what has come before, nods to an era gone by yet remains effortlessly timeless. Its span of decades is laid immediately bare as opener ‘In A Lake’ traverses from her trademark delicate vocals to literal urban soundscapes, and sets the scene for the driving, unquestionably modern twist of ‘Where’s My Phone?’ - arguably one of Mitski’s most alternative songs to date. But much across ‘Nothing’s About To Happen To Me’ remains familiar, painting a considered, dreamy landscape over live instrumentation courtesy of her touring band. It remains as unlikely as ever, built on gently ebbing soundscapes and catastrophic crescendos that swirl around introspection and despondency. 

It’s here that Mitski finds her common ground, cutting across generational divides. “Would you have liked me better if I had died?”, she asks on ‘Dead Woman’, before declaring she’d “do anything to make you love me again” on standout ‘I’ll Change For You’. “It’s supposed to be my house,” she spits on ‘That White Cat’, “but I guess according to cats now it’s his house,” she concludes with a bitter tinge of anger and bemused resignation.

By balancing the mastery of her nostalgic sound with universally relatable lyrics, Mitski turns the unlikely into generational truths.