The difference between what makes an album good and what makes an album bad is something that has always struck me as being particularly arbitrary. What made an album or a song good was always based on my personal preference of whether I enjoyed it or not, not if it was technically well constructed or artful. For this reason, as well as my in-depth understanding of music, I decided to write this review of the new Mitski album, “Nothing’s About to Happen to Me” after its release on February 27th, almost three years since her last drop.
How am I supposed to really write a review if I don’t even know the standards by which it is to be judged?
It must supersede mere personal preference, as there are songs that I would consider to be “good” that I do not like, or songs that are “bad” that I enjoy. To the most extreme degrees of quality either direction, it is nearly universally agreed upon whether albums are good or bad, and on some level, by virtue of the fact that people are employed to write reviews about various mediums of art within the culture, there must be some kind of objectivity to art. Mitski’s hauntingly beautiful vocals and cutting lyrics are subjectively bewitching, but also hint at something deeper, something that is impossible to describe merely through words that can only be called “objectively good.”
From general observation, it became clear to me that art (such as movies, TV shows, books, etc.) created with a greater emphasis on profit than spreading some kind of message or meaning feels hollow and soulless, and simply doesn’t resonate. Mitski’s compositions, especially “Nothing’s About to Happen to Me” are a greater manifestation of, not corporate greed, but legitimate artistic expression of something greater than ourselves.
There is a word for these soulless creations within our modern society: slop. Things that are created to exclusively entertain, not to reveal something true about the human condition or cause you to meditate on this truth that can only truly be understood through artful consumption.
Technically, “Nothing’s About to Happen to Me” is a good album, it has interesting lyrics and is sonically pleasant. However, more than that, this album appears to one as strikingly true. It compels you to understand some kind of universal human reality about our collective suffering and existence through its ineffable beauty. For an album that takes just over half of an hour to complete, it manages to capture something true and is resonatory, and for that reason I rate it an 8.5/10.
