Alternative Nation: The Fediverse's Alternative and Indie Music Community @lemmy.world ren (a they/them) @lemmy.world 9 mo. ago

[DISCUSSION: WEEKLY ALBUM CLUB] Mitski - The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We

Mitski's latest album, The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We is our Weekly Album Club discussion!!!

BUT - instead of doing 2 threads, let's just make this THE thread. Your job this week is to listen to her new album and share your thought here in this thread!

You have 1 week! Put yer good headphones on!

15 comments

Visiting from !hiphopheads@sopuli.xyz !

I'm not a huge Alt/Indie music listener, but I do like folk music so when I saw her with Folk Rock as one of her labels on Wikipedia I was excited to check this out. I also really liked the track she co-wrote for Everything, Everywhere, All At Once.

This whole album is so sad for me. I love music that makes me really feel something, but it is rare that the emotion I get out of my music is a deep and genuine sadness. I won't pretend I'm not a pretty emotional guy, but I was surprised when started to tear up during Heaven. I'm a happily married man and the combination of

as I sip on the rest of the coffee you left
a kiss left of you

and

and the dark awaits us all around the corner
but here, in our place we have for the day
can we stay a while and listen for heaven

made me NEED to walk over and hug my wife. Her ex-husband passed away a couple years ago and watching my step-kids deal with that grief made me very aware that seemingly healthy people our age can vanish suddenly.

I also want to mention Star. As far as I can tell it was released as a single the same time as Heaven, so maybe it is appropriate that it is my second favorite song on the album. When it starts to build at ~1:45 and then peaks at ~2:35, I got goosebumps.

I also really liked the hard piano on "When Memories Snow", leading in to the orchestral build. Maybe I'm just a sucker for a good build.

The only take I wasn't super feeling is I Don't Like My Mind, but I think that is just because it is following Heaven which hit me so hard. I was emotionally recovering or something, idk. I will be giving this album another listen in the near future and my opinion may change once I'm no longer gut punched by Heaven.

Last thing to mention is that the dog barking sounds on the back part of I'm Your Man made me genuinely uncomfortable. I don't know why exactly but I disliked it on a very guttural level.

Overall I really liked this album. Not as folky as I had hoped when I Wikipedia's her, but I think that was me setting false expectations for myself. Their was a bit of country going on though which is folk adjacent! Overall the the choral and orchestral pieces on several of the tracks sounded amazing and her lyrics combined with the general vibe of many of the songs had me all in my feelings. I'll have to check out some of her older albums after this if they are anything like this. I need to give it a few days though probably. Partly so I can re-listen to this, but also because I think I can only handle so much sad music in a short period of time.
- Welcome! And thanks for the thorough write up! I'm glad you were able to emotionally connect with this album.
  
  I think the barking dogs on I'm Your Man are supposed to make you feel uncomfortable. It makes that song a bit more challenging and intense which I like.
  
  I re-listened to the album last night and I agree that it makes the song more intense. It still makes me uncomfortable, but I don't mind it. This isn't an album I would listen to if I was looking to feel something upbeat and that is OK.
  
  Unrelated but I Don't Like My Mind grew on my when I listened to it by itself and might be in my top 3 tracks when listened to individually.
Awesome choice! I wasn't expecting a 2 month old album to make it to album club! But this one deserves the attention. I've given it a few listens since it came out but let me get one more listen in before I give any deeper thoughts.
- Figured we can mix it up, listen to new stuff, old stuff, forgotten stuff - have fun!
Calm album for driving aimlessly at night on desolate and endless boulevards, filling the silence between you and your partner while the intersection lights flash at regular intervals... there is a beach at the end of a side road somewhere. All is beautiful and delicate.

8.5/10 - Will absolutely revisit this album a lot. It could have been just a few minutes longer.
- I definitely think it could've been longer. Not by adding more songs or more verses. But by having some longer instrumental sections, intros, and outros. Stuff that lets the song breathe for a bit. Some of the songs just felt a little cut short.
I’ve never heard Mitski before. I’m excited to listen!
Hey ren@lemmy.world are we doing an album club post this week? You do a lot for this community so I wouldn't mind taking this over moving forward if you'd like. I'd hate to see it die already
- Go for it!!! Yeah, my bandwidth has been tight this past month with travel and work! So sorry!
  
  Don't apologize! I'd like to help out and keep this community going so I'm happy to do this. But I think I'll hold off until Tuesday to post. So basically just skip this week and start it up again next week. Did you have any albums in mind for the next one? If not I'll pick something that is "essential alternative"
This album is simply a masterpiece. Perfect from the first note to the end to me. I liked Mitski before, but this new one. Oh my, she dug deep here. It's subtle, it's not, it's bold, it's quiet... but it's gutwrenching. Love it!
After a few more listens I think I can safely call this my favorite album from Mitski. Although I can't say that I've given her other work as much attention as I've given this album. Perhaps there's a reason for that.

The thing that has kept me coming back to this album is the opening track Bug Like an Angel. I love this song. The lyrics stand strong and emotional and with Mitski's quieter delivery the backing choir acts as an exclamation point. The contrast between her and the choir gives me chills every time. This is just an excellent song.

The other song I want to mention is I'm Your Man. Honestly I just really like the outro with the dogs barking. It's jarring and eerie in a really cool way.

Overall I'd say this a great album with emotional and impactful lyrics. I'll probably come back to it a few more times and I'll definitely at least listen to Bug Like An Angel some more.

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