As teased over the weekend, Mitski has announced her new album: The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We arrives on September 15 through Dead Oceans. It is previewed by lead single and video “Bug Like An Angel”.
The new track is an atmospheric acoustic folk meander through Mitski’s mind as she observes a bug on the bottom of her glass and then confesses “As I got older I learned I’m a drinker / Sometimes a drink feels like family”. Rather than emphasise the loneliness of that admission, “Big Like An Angel” gets a choral injection that makes it suddenly seem like she’s surrounded by people having a good time – but it’s fleeting. She’s soon back to brooding solo contemplations; “Well, when you break them / They break you right back / Amateur mistake / You can take it from me”. Again the chorus comes in to emphasise that last line, but this time it sounds more cutting – as if it’s the voices of all the people that Mitski has broken coming to haunt her. A beautiful and inscrutable lament, “Bug Like An Angel” sets us up for another unpredictable Mitski record.
Watch the video for “Bug Like An Angel” below or find it on streamers.
Mitski’s new album The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We is out on September 15 through Dead Oceans (pre-order/save). You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram.
