“There’s certainly something to be said about Mitski’s growth as both an artist and a global superstar, and how the arrival of new music from her signals a huge moment.” – MTV
Last month, Mitski announced Laurel Hell, one of 2022’s most anticipated releases, out February 4th via Dead Oceans, in advance of her entirely sold out North American tour. Today, she unveils an arresting new single, “Heat Lightning,” with an animated lyric video created by Alex Moy. For Laurel Hell, Mitski “needed songs that could help me forgive both others and myself…I needed to create this space mostly for myself where I sat in that gray area.” As with all the songs on Laurel Hell, “Heat Lightning” embodies that space. Initially written on piano before blossoming into a sensual R&B direction halfway through, it’s a hypnotic, melancholy ode to insomnia and the “sleeping eyelid of the sky.” Throughout, Mitski admits, “And there’s nothing I can do // Not much I can change // Can I give it up to you // Would that be okay? // There’s nothing I can do // Not much I can change // I give it up to you // I surrender.”
Watch Mitski’s Video for “Heat Lightning”
Mitski wrote many of the songs comprising Laurel Hell during or before 2018, and the album was finished being mixed in May 2021. It is the longest span of time Mitski has ever spent on a record, and a process that concluded amid a radically changed world. Once again produced by longtime collaborator Patrick Hyland, the album as a whole evolved “to be more uptempo and dance-y. I needed to create something that was also a pep talk.” As championed in the album’s first two singles “The Only Heartbreaker” and “Working for the Knife,” the tension that emerges between her refined but plaintive lyrics and the effervescent 1980s sound delivers nuanced profundity on a current of contagious dance beats.
Laurel Hell is a soundtrack for transformation, a map to the place where vulnerability and resilience, sorrow and delight, error and transcendence can all sit within our humanity, can all be seen as worthy of acknowledgment, and ultimately, love. It cements Mitski’s reputation as an artist who possesses the power of turning our most savage and alienated experiences into the very elixir that cures them. “I wrote what I needed to hear. As I’ve always done.”
Watch the Video for “The Only Heartbreaker”
Watch the Video for “Working for the Knife”
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 the 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 SOLD OUT
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 SOLD OUT
Thu. May 12, 2022 – Oslo, NO @ Sentrum Scene SOLD OUT
Sat. May 14, 2022 – Hamburg, DE @ Fabrik – SOLD OUT
Sun. May 15, 2022 – Cologne, DE @ Carlswerk Victoria – SOLD OUT
Tue. May 17, 2022 – Vienna, AT @ WUK – SOLD OUT
Wed. May 18, 2022 – Prague, CZ @ Archa Theatre – SOLD OUT
Thu. May 19, 2022 – Munich, DE @ Strom – SOLD OUT
Sat. July 2, 2022 – Stockholm, SE @ Lollapalooza Stockholm
Fri. Sep 16 – 18, 2022: Los Angeles, CA @ Primavera Sound LA