Album Review: Mitski, Nothing’s About To Happen To Me

To imagine that Mitski might successfully revive the garage-rock catharsis of her 2014 masterwork, Bury Me At Makeout Creek, might have seemed a pipe dream – but it’s happened.

Impossible? The lead single from Nothing’s About To Happen To Me, ‘Where’s My Phone’, erupts into a flurry of fuzzed-out riffs and emphatic vocals, hinting at the distorted drama to come. Its dogged guitar chug insists those dark days at Makeout Creek still linger. But it’d be wrong to think Mitski is sitting still.

Whereas previously, the singer felt like a peer – someone as deep in the pits of life as the rest of us, from tortured break-ups to existential midnight ramblings – now, she sings like a sage, safe from the dangers and fears that keep us up at night. And she’s telling us how she made it through.

‘In A Lake’ is a prescriptive laundry-list for renewal. “Here in a lake,” she sings, “you can backstroke forever… In a big city, you can start over.” The sonics take a turn towards the purgative, offering the emotional release that’s become a Mitski calling card. For good measure, she follows suit on the raucous and resplendent brace of ‘If I Leave’ and ‘Lightning’.

Elsewhere, some songs don a surf-rock guise, while others offer Laurel Canyon echoes, as on ‘Charon’s Obol’. Across 11 tracks, the drama unfolds in a Lynchian manner: undeniably beautiful, but with hints of darkness beneath.

There are few artists so consistent, yet so explorative. With Nothing’s About To Happen To Me, Mitski cements her position among the best of artists her generation.

9.5/10