ALBUM ANNOUNCE // Mitski Announces ‘Puberty 2’ Out June 17th On Dead Oceans

Ask Mitski Miyawaki about happiness and she’ll warn you: “Happiness fucks you.” It’s a lesson that’s been present in her work for years, but never so powerfully as on Mitski’s newest album, Puberty 2. “Happiness is up, sadness is down, but one’s almost more destructive than the other,” she says. “When you realize you can’t have one without the other, it’s possible to spend periods of happiness just waiting for that other wave.” On Puberty 2, that tension is palpable: a both beautiful and brutal romantic hinterland, in which a fierce new voice hits a brave new stride.

The follow-up to 2014’s Bury Me At Makeout Creek, Puberty 2 picks up where its predecessor left off. “It’s kind of a two parter,” explains Mitski, “It’s similar in sound, but a direct growth from that record.” Musically, there are subtle evolutions: electronic drum machines pulse throughout beneath Pixies-ish guitars, while saxophone lights up its opening track. “I had a certain confidence this time. I knew what I wanted, knew what I was doing and wasn’t afraid to do things that some people may not like.”

In terms of message though, the 25-year-old cuts the same defiant, feminist figure on Puberty 2 that has previously won her acclaim. Born in Japan, Mitski grew up surrounded by her father’s Smithsonian folk recordings and mother’s 1970s Japanese pop CDs in a family that moved frequently: she spent stints in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malaysia, China and Turkey among other countries before coming to New York to study composition at SUNY Purchase. She reflects now on feeling “half Japanese, half American but not fully either” – a feeling she confronts on clever debut single, “Your Best American Girl” – a super-sized punk-rock number where she “hammed up the tropes” to deconstruct and poke fun at that genre’s surplus of white males. “I wanted to use those white-American-guy stereotypes as a Japanese girl who can’t fit in, who can never be an American girl,” she explains.

Sadness is awful and happiness is exhausting in the world of Mitski. The effect of Puberty 2, however, is a stark opposite: invigorating, inspiring and beautiful.

Puberty 2 is out June 17th on Dead Oceans, and available for pre-order now. All iTunes pre-orders come with an instant grat download of “Your Best American Girl.” Mitski and band will play SXSW and tour all over in the months to come. The live band will be a three-piece: Mitski (bass/vocals), Callan Dwan (guitar) and Casey Weissbuch (drums). Dates are below.

Preorder Puberty 2 now:

Mitski Tour Dates:
(more info and tix here)

Sat. March 12 – McAllen, TX @ Galax Z Fair V at Yerberia

Wed. March 16 – Austin, TX @ Hype Hotel – YVYNYL x S&S x Hype Machine — 3pm

Thu. March 17 – Austin, TX @ Barracuda – Secretly Label Group Showcase – 10pm

Fri. March 18 – Austin, TX @ Barracuda – Pitchfork Day Party – 12:40pm

Fri. March 18 – Austin, TX @ PEN – Portals SXSW 2016 – 6:30pm — solo show

Fri. March 18 – Austin, TX @ Hole in the Wall – Stereogum x Exploding In Sound’s Austin Invasion 2

– 9:30pm

Sat. March 19 – Austin, TX @ Studium – She Shreds x Punctum Records Presents – 5:30pm

Sun. April 17 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique – solo show

Tues. April 19 – London, UK @ Birthdays – solo show

Thu. April 21 – Paris, FR @ La Mécanique Ondulatoire w/ Twin Peaks) – solo show

Sat. April 23 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Basement – solo show

Mon. June 20 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom

Wed. June 22 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall

Thu. June 23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Boot & Saddle

Fri. June 24 – Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA

Sat. June 25 – Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel

Sun. June 26 – Durham, NC @ The Pinhook

Tue. June 28 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade: Purgatory

Wed. June 29 – Birmingham, AL @ The Syndicate Lounge

Fri. July 1 – Houston, TX @ Walter’s Downtown

Sat. July 2 – Austin, TX @ The Sidewinder

Sun. July 3 – Dallas, TX @ Three Links

Tue. July 5 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Rebel Lounge

Wed. July 6 – Santa Ana, CA @ The Constellation Room

Thu. July 7 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo

Fri. July 8 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill

Sat. July 9 – Oakland, CA @ Starline Social Club

Mon. July 11 – Portland, OR @ Analog Theater

Tue. July 12 – Vancouver, BC @ The Cobalt

Wed. July 13 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile

Fri. July 15 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court

Sat. July 16 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge

Tue. July 19 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry

Wed. July 20 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall

Fri. July 22 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern

Sat. July 23 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz