Mitski Announces New Album, Shares Video for New Song “The Only Heartbreaker” | Under the Radar | Music Blog for the Indie Music Magazine
Wednesday, November 13th, 2024  

Mitski Announces New Album, Shares Video for New Song “The Only Heartbreaker”

Laurel Hell Due Out February 4 via Dead Oceans

Nov 09, 2021 Photography by Ebru Yildiz

Mitski has announced a new album, Laurel Hell, and shared a new song from it, “The Only Heartbreaker,” via a video for the single. Laurel Hell is due out February 4 via Dead Oceans. Maegan Houang and Jeff Desom directed the video for “The Only Heartbreaker.” Check it out below, followed by the album’s tracklist and cover art.

Laurel Hell is the follow-up to 2018’s Be the Cowboy. It features “Working for the Knife,” a new song Mitski shared in October via a dramatic video. “Working for the Knife” made it to #1 on our Songs of the Week list.

Many of the songs on Laurel Hell were written during or before 2018. The album was finally finished being mixed in May 2021. Mitski’s longtime producer Patrick Hyland worked with her on the album throughout the pandemic and it’s the longest she has ever worked on an album. Over the course of its creation, Mitski says in a press release that the album evolved “to be more uptempo and dance-y. I needed to create something that was also a pep talk.”

Of the lyrical themes on the album, Mitski says: “I needed love songs about real relationships that are not power struggles to be won or lost. I needed songs that could help me forgive both others and myself. I make mistakes all the time. I don’t want to put on a front where I’m a role model, but I’m also not a bad person. I needed to create this space mostly for myself where I sat in that gray area.”

“The Only Heartbreaker” was co-written with Dan Wilson. Mitski says it depicts “the person always messing up in the relationship, the designated Bad Guy who gets the blame. It could simply be about that, but I also wanted to depict something sadder beneath the surface, that maybe the reason you’re always the one making mistakes is because you’re the only one trying.”

For “The Only Heartbreaker” video, Mitski was filmed entirely in front of a green screen for the first time.

Co-director Maegan Houang had this to say about the video: “The worst pain I’ve experienced is when I’ve fully understood the pain I’ve caused another. It’s one of the hardest parts of being human, that no matter our intentions, we’ll inevitably do something hurtful to our fellow man, if not someone we love. In this case, the harm Mitski enacts in the video is to the world. It’s unstoppable and destructive, but worst of all, she doesn’t even want it to happen. She’s a stand-in for humanity as we collectively do so little to save ourselves and our planet.”

Be the Cowboy was #2 on our Top 100 Albums of 2018 list and landed her on the cover of our print magazine.

Read our 2019 cover story interview with Mitski on Be the Cowboy.

Read our review of Be the Cowboy.

Read our review of Puberty 2.

Laurel Hell Tracklist:

1. Valentine, Texas
2. Working for the Knife
3. Stay Soft
4. Everyone
5. Heat Lightning
6. The Only Heartbreaker
7. Love Me More
8. There’s Nothing Left For You
9. Should’ve Been Me
10. I Guess
11. That’s Our Lamp

Mitski Tour Dates:

Thu. Feb. 17, 2022 - Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel - SOLD OUT
Fri. Feb. 18, 2022 - Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz - SOLD OUT
Sat. Feb. 19, 2022 - Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern - SOLD OUT
Mon. Feb. 21, 2022 - Birmingham, AL @ Iron City - SOLD OUT
Tue. Feb. 22, 2022 - New Orleans, LA @ Civic Theatre - SOLD OUT
Thu. Feb. 24, 2022 - Houston, TX @ The Lawn at White Oak Music Hall - SOLD OUT
Fri. Feb. 25, 2022 - Dallas, TX @ The Factory in Deep Ellum - SOLD OUT
Sat. Feb. 26, 2022 - Austin, TX @ ACL Live at Moody Theater - SOLD OUT
Mon. Feb. 28, 2022 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren - SOLD OUT
Wed. March 2, 2022 - Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Exposition Hall - SOLD OUT
Thu. March 3, 2022 - Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Exposition Hall - SOLD OUT
Fri. March 4, 2022 - Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater - SOLD OUT
Sat. March 5,2022 - Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater - SOLD OUT
Mon. March 7, 2022 - Portland, OR @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall - SOLD OUT
Wed. March 9, 2022 - Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre - SOLD OUT
Thu. March 10, 2022 - Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre - SOLD OUT
Sat. March 12, 2022 - Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom - SOLD OUT
Mon. March 14, 2022 - St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre - SOLD OUT
Tue. March 15, 2022 - Milwaukee, WI @ Miller High Life Theatre - SOLD OUT
Thu. March 17, 2022 - Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple Theatre - SOLD OUT
Fri. March 18, 2022 - Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall - SOLD OUT
Sat. March 19, 2022 - Montreal, QC @ St-Jean-Baptiste Church - SOLD OUT
Mon. March 21, 2022 - Boston, MA @ Roadrunner - SOLD OUT
Tue. March 22, 2022 - Boston, MA @ Roadrunner - SOLD OUT
Thu. March 24, 2022 - New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall - SOLD OUT
Fri. March 25, 2022 - Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall - SOLD OUT
Sat. March 26, 2022 - Washington, DC @ The Anthem - SOLD OUT
Sun. March 27, 2022 - Washington, DC @ The Anthem - SOLD OUT
Tue. March 29, 2022 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE - SOLD OUT
Wed. March 30, 2022 - Louisville, KY @ Old Forester’s Paristown Hall - SOLD OUT
Thu. March 31, 2022 - Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium - SOLD OUT
Thu. April 21, 2022 - Bristol, UK @ Marble Factory - SOLD OUT
Fri. April 22, 2022 - Leeds, UK @ University Union Refectory - SOLD OUT
Sat. April 23, 2022 - Glasgow, UK @ Barrowland Ballroom - SOLD OUT
Mon. April 25, 2022 - Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street - SOLD OUT
Tue. April 26, 2022 - Manchester, UK @ Manchester Academy - SOLD OUT
Thu. April 28, 2022 - London, UK @ The Roundhouse - SOLD OUT
Fri. April 29, 2022 - London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton - SOLD OUT
Sat. April 30, 2022 - Brussels, BE @ Les Nuits Botanique Festival - SOLD OUT
Mon. May 2, 2022 - Tourcoing, FR @ Le Grand Mix - SOLD OUT
Tue. May 3, 2022 - Paris, FR @ L’Olympia
Wed. May 4, 2022 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso - SOLD OUT
Fri. May 6, 2022 - Zurich, CH @ Kaufleuten
Sat. May 7, 2022 - Lausanne, CH @ Les Docks
Mon. May 9, 2022 - Berlin, DE @ Metropol - SOLD OUT
Tue. May 10, 2022 - Copenhagen, DK @ Vega - SOLD OUT
Wed. May 11, 2022 - Stockholm, SE @ Fållan
Thu. May 12, 2022 - Oslo, NO @ Sentrum Scene
Sat. May 14, 2022 - Hamburg, DE @ Fabrik - SOLD OUT
Sun. May 15, 2022 - Cologne, DE @ Carlswerk Victoria - SOLD OUT
Tue. May 17, 2022 - Vienna, AU @ WUK - SOLD OUT
Wed. May 18, 2022 - Prague, CZ @ Archa Theatre - SOLD OUT
Thu. May 19, 2022 - Munich, DE @ Strom - SOLD OUT

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