Recommended tracks: “In A Lake,” “Where’s My Phone?,” “Lightning”
Artists you may like: Phoebe Bridgers, beabadoobee, Cults
Nothing’s About to Happen to Me is the eighth studio album by Mitski and finds the Japanese singer-songwriter immersing herself in a rich narrative whose main character is a reclusive woman in an unkempt house. Outside of her home, she is a deviant; inside of her home, she is free. The album is supported by a live band and orchestra, creating a range of sound and energy that extends across the album. Standout singles like “Where’s My Phone?” and “I’ll Change For You”, that were released prior to the album, set the tone for what is to come, as the character Mitski has created seems to be mourning a life that could have been.
“In A Lake” opens the album with a newer sound from the singer, displaying influences of Southern American traditions as banjos and fiddles play alongside double bass, backing Mitski’s soft vocals. The song itself explores themes of suspended transformation—that quiet, unbearable moment before change arrives; “But in a lake, you can backstroke forever / The sky before you and the dark behind you / And in a big city, you can start over.” Mitski lingers in emotional stillness, singing about waiting for something unnamed yet inevitable, her voice hovering between resignation and resolve. The sparse, rootsy instrumentation circles gently, mirroring the song’s preoccupation with anticipation. As an opener, it sets the tone for what is to come.
Right in the middle of the album is “Instead of Here.” Unlike the heavy brass and folk numbers that accompany the other songs, this track is skeletal in composition, with muted electric piano, a brushed snare and a guitar line that hangs on each word. In the story of the album, the repeated lyric, “I’m not here, I’m where nobody can reach” makes sense, as the character we’re exploring secludes herself. The end finds the singer finding comfort in the morose and willingness to wallow in a state of melancholy, trusting the comfort the familiar sensation brings, “So excuse me, I’ll be opening my box / Of old friend misery, my secret treat / To feel like myself again.”
The closing track, and one of the shortest of the album, is “Lightning.” It could be compared to her 2022 song, “Heat Lightning.” Where heat lightning is silent, regular lightning is loud and makes itself known. The song crescendos, unlike the opening track, with the character we’ve come to know finally succumbing to herself, “I can hear the song of my death / Singing for the lightning to come” as something finally happens to her.
Nothing’s About to Happen to Me is the musings of a mind left wondering where to go and what to do next. It is heavy with conflict of wanting to stay in the safety of one place, a place you know and trust, versus wanting to branch out and explore the possibilities of what branching out might bring. Though the character within each song is fictional, it is clear Mitski has woven herself into her—a reclusive public figure unsure of what will come next.
Nothing’s About to Happen to Me is out now.
