Album Review: Laurel Hell, another "heart-wrenching and explorative experience"

“Laurel Hell” is the sixth studio album released by Japanese American artist Mitski that sees her established singer-songwriter genre further expanded into a synth-pop and electro-rock direction. While long-time Mitski fans may be thrown off a bit by this new sound, Mitski does not abandon her old aesthetics and manages to blend aspects of her sound with this new style of production in a fascinating way.

While the album is not without its flaws, “Laurel Hell” makes for a quick and enjoyable listen, having a total runtime of 32:25. Certain moments on the album come together beautifully, with production from Patrick Hyland complementing Mitski’s unique vocals and themes of a tenuous relationship.

Packing an attention-garnering punch, the opening track of the record, “Valentine, Texas” brings the most adventurous moment on the album, with the dark synth launching Mitski back into the darkness and the bright piano popping out as the last bit of light she can see.

The rest of the record does not sonically follow in this vein. Instead, listeners are mostly treated with dark, reflective moments as well as a more commercial version of Mitski. The album can feel like it blends together at times, with tracks such as “Stay Soft” and “Love Me More” having little to distinguish between them. However, these head nodding moments on the record provide a clever and telling juxtaposition to the capricious slower, darker songs that reflect on the tumultuous nature of Mitski’s relationship, such as the track “Everyone” where she invites darkness to completely overtake her.

This record could have been a whirlwind, as Mitski announced she would be stepping back from social media and music in 2019 before realizing her contract with her label required her to release one more album. However, instead of releasing a soulless record, Mitski delivered yet again another heart wrenching and explorative experience to her ever-adoring fans.