'Mitski' is back!

Mitski at the Moore Theatre in Seattle. March 10, 2022. Picture source: David Lee

Beginning her career by dropping out of her film course to pursue her true passion for music, twenty-eight-year-old indie rock musician 'Mitski' has had a unique career. With her indefinite end to tours and music in 2019, fans were left with the idea that she would never make a return to touring and were left wondering when she would finally make music again.

After being on tour for close to five years straight, her “last tour” took place in 2019 in Central Park, where most fans thought it would be their last opportunity to witness her musical genius in real life. However, after a global pandemic and 2 years, Mitski has made her return to music with her new songs 'Working for the Knife' and 'The Only Heartbreaker'.

So why did Mitski decide to leave her music career? The simple answer is like most young artists who take breaks from music, being that she felt disconnected from herself and wanted to regain a normal life. With being on tours non-stop since her career properly took off, Mitski realised that she hadn’t had a set home in years and was beginning to become engulfed in her work and felt it was unfair on her fans for her to not be making music for passion, but instead for deadlines.

She tweeted: “I’ve been on non-stop tour for over 5 years, I haven’t had a place to live during this time, and I sense that if I don’t step away soon, my self-worth/identity will start depending too much on staying in the game, in the constant churn.

“I don’t want to make art like that, especially when you’re offering your valuable time and hearts and money to it.”

With her return to music, fans were sceptical of what her return would be like, and whether it would've been worth the two years she dropped off the face of the earth. Fans were not left disappointed.

Like her previous songs such as 'Your Best American Girl' and 'Nobody', the release of her new music has sparked her fans' love for her right back, leaving them with that same overwhelming feeling of love and pain from her music.

Her music is an insight into what it’s like to be a person of colour, in life, and in the industry, but also reflects on parts of life that all people can relate to such as heartbreak and feeling alone.

Her new song Working for the Knife delves into Mitski's struggles surrounding her career. The lyrics, such as “I start the day lying and end with the truth, that I'm dying for the knife” connote that she views her job the way we at home would view mundane labour, being that she constantly feels overworked and like there’s never going to be an end to the constant hustle of the music industry.

Now, Mitski seems to be enjoying the reboot in her career. Supporting Harry Styles on his UK tour and said “I’m already learning so much. I feel like I got a scholarship!” She clearly still has a long, healthy career ahead of her and fans cannot wait to see what she does next.