Sonic Space: Mitski
Finals are grim. In these dark times, I usually turn to sad, slow folk-rock à la Simon and Garfunkel — there is something weirdly soothing about wallowing in morose lyrics while pouring over four weeks of backlogged readings and weeping silently into my KAF cider. So when I heard the words “folk” and “rock” being thrown around in describing the latest album by Mitski Miyawaki, the Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter who goes by the handle Mitski, my ears perked up. Of course, this classification underemphasizes the intensity of the drums and distortions that pop up in almost every track of her new album “Bury Me At Makeout Creek” (2014) — but it’s technically not inaccurate.
“Drunk Walk Home,” one of my favorite tracks on the album, is a monument to Mitski’s raw energy and control. “I’m starting to learn that I may never be free” sings Mitski over the bare bones opening, and as her voice and the distorted back beat build, there are cheers in the background until the entire track is filled with power chords, feedback and screaming. Right before the song ends, Mitski eschews the blaring background and ends the song with a few ragged, raspy whispers. This is a prime example of Mitski’s production capabilities and rock tendencies on the album –if every track on this release had the noise profile of “Drunk Walk Home”, Mitski might be considered more post-punk than folk-rock.
Fortunately for my study music peculiarities, Mitski delivers on the more melancholy folk-rock I had expected from her previous albums as well. Her last track, “Last Words Of A Shooting Star,” features acoustic guitars layered over static-y sounding rain and bare vocals. Folksy and forlorn, the track sees Mitski crooning “They’ll never know/ how I stared at the dark/ In that room with no thoughts/ Like a blood sniffing shark” — not the most traditional image to find in a folk song. But Mitski makes it work.
“Bury Me At Makeout Creek” then — in my opinion —is a fantastic finals album. Mopey enough to suit the grimness of the 3 a.m. 1902 scene but rowdy enough to keep you awake through your all-nighter, it hits all the highs and lows you need to get you through the next few days.