Mitski consolidates her position on Nothing's About To Happen To Me

From more than a decade’s great work, she cultivated a loyal fanbase; then in 2023, thanks in no small part to TikTok’s capricious algorithm, she went from indie darling to bonafide megastar after “My Love Mine All Mine” and the Land Is Inhospitable LP shot into the stratosphere. Since then it’s been Oscar noms, concern films, and similar major accolades for the singer, so yeah: this record could wind up being something of A Big Deal.

All of this could add up to immense pressure, but no such desperation is felt on these 11 songs. Part of Mitski’s appeal is that, despite the highly online status of much of her fanbase, she has maintained a mystique, a shroud of intrigue. She conveys an amount of distance on record; she tackles loss and heartbreak aplenty, but with a certain classical reserve. You’re not going to catch her taking a sudden tonal shift to capitalise on a potential influx of fresh eyes – it’s business as usual.

In this instance, because we’re dealing here with one of the most fleet footed songwriters of a generation, “business as usual” is no bad thing at all. Opener “In A Lake” sets out its melancholic stall early, its narrator wallowing in a small town where “you never get away from your first love / It’s like one brand of soap sold in town / ‘Cause anyone you can get close to / Smells like your first time around.” Collaborating once again with producer Patrick Hyland, the track builds through folksy squeezebox and banjo chords before at last bursting into full, chaotic, orchestral life. Gear shifts come early and often, the album pelting straight into bouncy, fuzzed out first single “Where’s My Phone?”

Those with financial stakes in the LP will be combing for another potential TikTok hit. The delicate, swooning “Cats” feels a decent shout, instantly evocative with its gentle Americana twang. And “Rules” is a no-brainer, its count-off motifs doing content creators’ jobs for them, its themes of modern romantic horrors giving Dua Lipa by way of music hall-leaning Beatles. The best track, though, “Charon’s Obal”, is also perhaps its most old fashioned. It’s a beautifully produced slice of symphonic pop, the type a Scott Walker or a Dusty Springfield – a proper classy operator – would gleefully jump on.

If the odd long term listener might suggest Nothing's About To Happen To Me is a touch risk averse, the majority of Mitski fans will be more than satisfied with another serving of seriously good stuff. When you’re consistently serving up brilliantly written songs that sound great and are performed with panache, that’s not a formula, that’s just being very good at your job.