On February 27, Mitski released her eighth studio album, Nothing’s About to Happen to Me, which features 11 tracks. The album tells the story of an isolated, withdrawn woman facing difficulties with modern love, connection, and anxiety. Although Mitski plays a character throughout the album, it remains highly personal and relatable, especially to young women in times of transition and uncertainty associated with the current world.
The first track is titled “In a Lake,” a song from the perspective of the narrator stuck in a small town, forced to face bad memories at every corner and dreaming of life in the city where she could start anew. Towards the end of the track there is a crescendo the sounds of city-life, insinuating the narrator has finally achieved the goal of escaping her old life. However, the peaceful, upbeat nature of the album doesn’t continue for long.
Afterwards, we are met with “Where’s My Phone?,” a tale of modern anxiety and the common desire to doomscroll to avoid life’s challenges. In the song, Mitski expresses a desire to have a mind of “clear glass” before a distorted, ominously cheerful outro, representing the temporary relief of distraction our phones give us. The character is distracting herself from multiple points of distress, but the album focuses heavily on heartbreak, especially in songs such as “If I Leave,” “I’ll Change for You,” and “Rules,” that plead for love, even though the love the narrator begs for proves to be unhealthy, over attached, and likely unsalvageable. It can be gathered that her lover left recently, forcing her into a state of depression that leaves her unable to decide between death and her previous partner.
Mitski also illuminates the traumas and stories of women in the songs “Dead Women” and “Charon’s Obol.” “Dead Women” haunts the listener as it confronts sexism and femicide, while “Charon’s Obol,” the only song told in third-person, marks a point of transition and healing as a woman honors the deceased women that used to reside in her home. The album cover, a white cat with heterochromia, soon to be unknowingly attacked by an orange cat, reveals an abundant motif, the relationship between the narrator and animals, specifically cats. This shows up in the songs “Cats” and “That White Cat,” which both portray animals as protective beings that encourage the narrator to continue on as best as she can, even when death seems easier than living.
The album finishes with “Lightning,” a song that perfectly finalizes the story of our narrator by reflecting on the new life that a rainstorm brings, assuring the listener that everything is eventually reborn.
Nothing’s About to Happen to Me is unmistakably Mitski’s work, but it highlights her ability to be novel. The album can be enjoyed in its entirety, yet the songs remain relevant and moving on their own. Since her first album, Lush, was released in 2012, Mitski has constantly evolved while simultaneously staying authentic through it all, proving herself as one of the great artists of our time.
