On Feb. 27, Mitski released her eighth studio album, “Nothing’s About to Happen to Me.” An 11-track release, the album picks apart the psyche of a woman driven insane from isolation as she traps herself in a haunting, gothic house. Equal parts unsettling and cathartic, “Nothing’s About to Happen to Me” perfectly captures the desperation, mania and loss of identity that can come from a loneliness that runs bone-deep.
One of the key causes of this loneliness is revealed in the third track, “Cats” — an unrequited love that sends the speaker careening into delusion. In this track, Mitski croons about refusing to leave an indifferent lover, promising to stay by their side regardless of whether they value her. “Guess it’s up to you if you choose to go,” she laments in one of the verses. This theme of one-sided romance is reiterated in the album’s second single, “I’ll Change For You.” With masterfully crafted lyricism, the track begs for reciprocated love in a manner so desperate that it becomes clear how someone in this situation would end up haunting a gothic mansion by the end.
When the album progresses, it also becomes evident that the speaker’s unbearable loneliness has turned her into an unreliable narrator. As she sings about feeding the dogs of dead women and the cats that have taken control of her home, it is difficult not to question what parts of this narrative are real and which are hallucinations. Both supernatural and unsettling, these embellishments only add to the album’s delightfully eerie tone.
However, it’s important to note that the inherent instability in this piece, which teeters on the brink of insanity, is crucial to its messaging. In this album, Mitski reclaims the archetype of the madwoman. For centuries, women’s thoughts, emotions and outrage have been dismissed as “hysterical” behavior — the nonsensical ramblings of a group of people that should never be taken seriously. In “Nothing’s About to Happen to Me,” Mitski finds power in this label. Telling the story of a woman whose powerful grief has turned her into a town pariah, she is unashamed of being “hysterical.” She revels in it, and most importantly, she turns it into art.
Her lyrics reflect these sentiments, directly commenting on how women’s complex experiences are too often reduced by people trying to take control of their narratives. “Would you have liked me better if I’d died / So you could tell my story the way it ought to be?” she asks in the album’s fifth track, “Dead Women.” Moments like these, scattered regularly throughout various songs, add another layer of depth to an album already rich in meaning.
Beyond lyricism, Mitski further reclaims the madwoman through a music video that accompanies the album’s lead single, “Where’s My Phone?” It follows the crazed woman that the audience has been getting to know (and love) as she locks herself in her house and tries to protect a maybe-real, maybe-not younger woman from the outside world. With rapid, repetitive clips, shaky movements and spinning shots, the video creates a sense of disorientation and confusion, placing the viewer in the character’s shoes and forcing them to empathize with her. It is often easy to brush aside someone, especially a woman, who society views as “unstable.” However, through this music video, Mitski leaves audiences no choice but to understand someone they otherwise would have sidelined or dismissed.
The immersive experience is not only created through powerful visuals but also through sound. Tracks like “In a Lake,” “Where’s my Phone?” and “Rules” all begin harmoniously but dissolve into harsh, grating sounds by the last 30 seconds — a trend that is also present in Mitski’s previous music. The discordant instrumentals and increasingly loud background noises create an anxious fuzz that is almost theatrical in nature, conveying a despair that cannot be put into words. With this, Mitski leaves the listener on edge, and that’s the point. If she’s not at peace, why should anyone else be?
“Nothing’s About to Happen to Me” is not just an album, but a powerful journey through the experiences and mentality of a richly layered character that almost everyone can find a little bit of themselves in. Although occasionally too intense for casual streaming, it’s definitely worth a listen — but the supernatural elements, intense visuals and haunting production may leave listeners questioning reality (in the best way possible).
