Laurel Hell
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Laurel Hell
| type = studio
| artist = Mitski
| cover = Mitski - Laurel Hell.png
| alt =
| released = {{start date|2022|02|04}}
| recorded = 2017–2021
| studio =
| genre =
| length = 32:25
| label = Dead Oceans
| producer = Patrick Hyland
| prev_title = Be the Cowboy
| prev_year = 2018
| next_title = The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We
| next_year = 2023
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Laurel Hell
| type = studio
| single1 = Working for the Knife
| single1date = October 5, 2021
| single2 = The Only Heartbreaker
| single2date = November 9, 2021
| single3 = Heat Lightning
| single3date = December 7, 2021
| single4 = Love Me More
| single4date = January 12, 2022
| single5 = Should've Been Me
| single5date = September 26, 2022{{cite web|url=https://www.allaccess.com/triple-a/future-releases|title=Triple A Future Releases|website=All Access|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220915160130/https://www.allaccess.com/triple-a/future-releases|archive-date=September 15, 2022|access-date=September 17, 2022}}
}}
}}
Laurel Hell is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Mitski, released on February 4, 2022, through Dead Oceans.{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/mitski-announces-new-album-laurel-hell-shares-new-song-the-only-heartbreaker-listen/|title=Mitski Announces New Album Laurel Hell, Shares New Song "The Only Heartbreaker": Listen|website=Pitchfork|last=Minsker|first=Evan|date=November 9, 2021|access-date=November 10, 2021}} Patrick Hyland produced the album, which has been characterized as a record blending synth-pop, indie pop and electronic rock styles. According to Mitski, the album title is a folk term for being trapped in thickets of laurel that grow in the southern Appalachian Mountains.
The album was preceded by the lead single "Working for the Knife" on October 5, 2021,{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/mitski-working-for-the-knife-new-music-1236649/|title=Mitski Cuts Sharp and Sure With 'Working for the Knife'|magazine=Rolling Stone|last=Martoccio|first=Angie|date=October 5, 2021|access-date=February 4, 2022}} and the second single "The Only Heartbreaker" on November 9, 2021. They were followed by two more singles: "Heat Lightning" and "Love Me More". Mitski promoted the album with the Laurel Hell Tour covering North America and Europe and running from February to November 2022.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/mitski-laurel-hell-annoucement-only-heartbreaker-1254681/|title=Mitski Destroys Everything She Touches in 'The Only Heartbreaker,' Previews New Album|magazine=Rolling Stone|last=Martoccio|first=Angie|date=November 9, 2021|access-date=November 10, 2021}}
Upon release, Laurel Hell received acclaim from music critics, who praised its lyrics and production. Commercially, the album peaked inside the top ten in territories such as Australia, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, marking Mitski's highest charting record in all of them. It was also the best-selling album in the US during the week of its release, and the first Billboard 200 top-ten album for Dead Oceans.{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/encanto-soundtrack-fifth-week-number-one-billboard-200-chart-1235030901/|title='Encanto' No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart for Fifth Week, Most for a Soundtrack Since 'Frozen'|last=Caulfield|first=Keith|publisher=Billboard|date=February 13, 2022|access-date=February 13, 2022}} Laurel Hell also became her first album to top the US Top Alternative and Rock Albums charts.
Background
Mitski wrote most of the album's songs before and during 2018, finishing the album during the COVID-19 lockdowns.{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/en_au/news/music/mitski-announces-new-album-laurel-hell-shares-single-the-only-heartbreaker-3091530|title=Mitski announces new album 'Laurel Hell', shares single 'The Only Heartbreaker'|work=NME|last=Krol|first=Charlotte|date=November 9, 2021|access-date=November 10, 2021}} Mitski also described the album as a "soundtrack for transformation, a map to the place where vulnerability and resilience, sorrow and delight, error and transcendence can all sit within our humanity, can all be seen as worthy of acknowledgment, and ultimately, love". She expressed that she wrote the album as she "needed love songs about real relationships that are not power struggles to be won or lost" as well as "songs that could help me forgive both others and myself. ... I needed to create this space mostly for myself where I sat in that gray area."{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2021/music/news/mitski-new-album-laurel-hell-single-1235107444/|title=Mitski Announces New Album 'Laurel Hell' Along With Second Single 'The Only Heartbreaker'|work=Variety|last=Shafer|first=Elise|date=November 9, 2021|access-date=November 10, 2021}}
Composition
Laurel Hell is a synth-pop,{{cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2022/01/mitski-laurel-hell-review/|title=On Laurel Hell, Mitski dashes over the dance floor|magazine=Spin|last=Olivier|first=Bobby|date=January 31, 2022|access-date=February 2, 2022}} indie pop, and electro-rock{{cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/mitski/laurel-hell-album-review/|title=Mitski's Laurel Hell Succeeds in Spite of Its Identity Crisis|work=Paste|last=Wolper|first=Caitlin|date=February 2, 2022|access-date=February 4, 2022}} album influenced by the sounds of the 1980s. It incorporates elements of new wave,{{cite web|url=https://crackmagazine.net/article/album-reviews/mitski-laurel-hell/|title=Mitski: 'Laurel Hell' Review|work=Crack Magazine|last=Ma|first=Nathan|date=February 2, 2022|access-date=February 4, 2022}} pop, disco, and dance music as well.{{cite web|url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/mitski_laurel_hell_album_review|title=Mitski Is Vulnerable and Mysterious in Equal Measure on 'Laurel Hell'|work=Exclaim!|last=Currie|first=Jordan|date=January 31, 2022|access-date=February 2, 2022|quote=sounds of disco and pop taking centre stage}} The album was previously conceived as a punk album, then a country album, before settling on its current electronic form.{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/album-reviews/mitski-laurel-hell-lingering-brilliance-drifts-into-the-gothic-1.4784538|title=Mitski: Laurel Hell – Lingering brilliance drifts into the gothic|last=Cleary|first=Andrea|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=January 28, 2022|access-date=February 4, 2022}} Album opener "Valentine, Texas" "builds into a swelling, glam rock instrumental break, with glimmering synths and driving piano lines" as "the narrator wonders who she'll be tonight; opening the door to a new self, she hopes the mountains in the distance will help lighten the mental weight she carries." "Working for the Knife" puts a "dream pop spin on the avant-garde industrial music of the late eighties".{{cite web|url=https://www.gigwise.com/reviews/3415530/album-review-mitski-laurel-hell|title=Album Review: Mitski - Laurel Hell|work=Gigwise|last=Foulkes|first=Tilly|date=February 1, 2022|access-date=February 4, 2022}} On "Stay Soft", Mitski sings about "providing love to someone who isn't willing to give it back, retreating into a shell caused by past wounds". On "Everyone", Mitski sings of "leaving, running and abandonment" over techno beats.{{cite web|url=https://riotmag.co/album-review-mitski-laurel-hell|title=Album Review: Mitski // Laurel Hell|work=Riot Magazine|last=Gibbs|first=Maia|date=February 4, 2022|access-date=February 4, 2022}} "The Only Heartbreaker" is an '80s new wave and Scandipop{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/mojo-march-2022/page/84/mode/2up|title=Mojo – March 2022|work=Mojo|last=Chick|first=Stevie|access-date=February 10, 2022}} song "where Mitski grapples with feeling like she can't pull her weight in a relationship." "Heat Lightning" is a song about insomnia that resembles an R&B slow jam.{{cite web|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/mitski-laurel-hell-album-review/|title=Mitski Laurel Hell Review: A Mismatched '80s-Inspired Pastiche|work=Slant Magazine|last=Winograd|first=Jeremy|date=January 31, 2022|access-date=February 4, 2022}} "Should've Been Me" is a baroque pop song "that finds Mitski witnessing a lost love attempt to find solace in a copy of herself."{{cite web|url=https://beatsperminute.com/album-review-mitski-laurel-hell/|title=Album Review: Mitski – Laurel Hell|work=Beats Per Minute|last=Early|first=JT|date=February 4, 2022|access-date=February 4, 2022}}
Critical reception
{{Music ratings
| MC = 83/100{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/laurel-hell/mitski|title=Laurel Hell by Mitski Reviews and Tracks|website=Metacritic|access-date=February 6, 2022}}
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/laurel-hell-mw0003624052|title=Laurel Hell – Mitski {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=AllMusic|last=Donelson|first=Marcy|access-date=February 3, 2022}}
| rev2 = The A.V. Club
| rev2score = B−{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/mitski-laurel-hell-album-review-1848427781|title=Mitski's previous work casts a looming shadow over the diminished Laurel Hell|website=The A.V. Club|last=Sanchez|first=Gabrielle|date=February 3, 2022|access-date=February 3, 2022}}
| rev3 = The Daily Telegraph
| rev3score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/what-to-listen-to/mitski-laurel-review-harry-styles-fans-melancholic-shock/|title=Mitski: Laurel Hell, review: Harry Styles fans are in for a melancholic shock|website=The Daily Telegraph|last=Platt|first=Poppie|date=February 4, 2022|access-date=February 7, 2022|url-access=subscription}}
| rev4 = DIY
| rev4score = {{rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web|url=https://diymag.com/2022/02/03/mitski-laurel-hell-album-review|title=Mitski Laurel Hell|website=DIY|last=Tipple|first=Ben|date=February 2, 2022|access-date=February 3, 2022}}
| rev5 = Exclaim!
| rev6 = The Independent
| rev6score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/mitski-review-laurel-hell-album-b2006183.html|title=Mitski review, Laurel Hell: Artist owns her contrariness on this free-sounding jumble of ideas|work=The Independent|last=Brown|first=Helen|date=February 3, 2022|access-date=February 3, 2022}}
| rev7 = NME
| rev7score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/mitski-laurel-hell-review-3151004|title=Mitski – 'Laurel Hell' review: meta musings set to her grandest music yet|work=NME|last=Hunt|first=El|date=February 2, 2022|access-date=February 3, 2022}}
| rev8 = The Observer
| rev8score = {{rating|5|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/feb/06/mitski-laurel-hell-review-valentine-texas-everyone|title=Mitski: Laurel Hell review – a deep dive you can dance to|website=The Observer|last=Empire|first=Kitty|author-link=Kitty Empire|date=February 6, 2022|access-date=February 7, 2022}}
| rev9 = Pitchfork
| rev9score = 7.8/10{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/mitski-laurel-hell/|title=Mitski: Laurel Hell Album Review|website=Pitchfork|last=Zhang|first=Cat|date=February 2, 2022|access-date=February 2, 2022}}
| rev10 = Rolling Stone
| rev10score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/mitski-laurel-hell-1293878/|title=Mitski Turns Ambiguity Into a Power Source on 'Laurel Hell'|magazine=Rolling Stone|last=Bernstein|first=Jonathan|date=February 3, 2022|access-date=February 3, 2022}}
}}
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publication, Laurel Hell received an average score of 83 out of 100, based on 27 reviews, indicating universal acclaim.
Paolo Ragusa at Consequence gave Laurel Hell a perfect score, describing it as the sound of "Mitski trusting herself, confidently blazing forward into the next decade of her storied career."{{cite web|url=https://consequence.net/2022/02/laurel-hell-review-mitski-album/|title=Mitski Blazes Forward on the Enigmatic Laurel Hell|website=Consequence|last=Hunt|first=El|date=February 1, 2022|access-date=February 3, 2022}} Commenting on the hiatus Mitski took from music in the aftermath of her previous full-length Be the Cowboy, DIY{{'}}s Ben Tipple said "That Laurel Hell exists only because it almost didn't gives it its power. It provides the space for her mastery of songwriting, and Patrick Hyland's understated yet orchestral production places Mitski in a realm all her own. She finds her voice in loss, an involuntary yet necessary response to throwing in the towel. But there's an ever-present tentative undercurrent, one that highlights the fragility of her return. The light at the end of the tunnel is flickering at best. You can't help but feel that it's all one broken brick away from tumbling down, which is exactly why it plays out with such delicate urgency."
In less favorable reviews, Steven Hyden of Uproxx described the LP as a "disappointment", saying that "Laurel Hell meanwhile is a tentative, frustrating record of half-measures trapped between musical worlds to which Mitski refuses to commit."{{cite web|url=https://uproxx.com/indie/mitski-laurel-hell-review/|title=The New Mitski Album 'Laurel Hell' Is A Disappointment|website=Uproxx|last=Hyden|first=Steven|date=February 1, 2022|access-date=February 3, 2022}} Meanwhile, Gabrielle Sanchez of The A.V. Club said "The qualities that make Mitski great—her urgency, rawness, and stark ferocity—feel muted here". The song "The Only Heartbreaker" proved particularly divisive among critics. While David Smyth of the Evening Standard hailed it at as an "air-punching blast of Eighties-influenced synthpop" with hit potential,{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/music/mitski-laurel-hell-album-review-harry-styles-b980403.html|title=Mitski – Laurel Hell review: A strong return for this fame-shy singer|website=Evening Standard|last=Smyth|first=David|date=February 3, 2022|access-date=February 3, 2022}} Pitchfork{{'}}s Cat Zhang cited its production as having the "effect of anonymizing her, subsuming a first-class songwriter into a tired palette."
| class="wikitable"
|+Year-end lists !Publication !List !Rank !Ref. |
| A.V. Club
|The 25 Best Albums of 2022 |Honorable Mention |
| Clash
|Clash's Albums of The Year |26 |
| Crack
|Best Albums of 2022 |43 |
| Esquire
|The 25 Best Albums of 2022 |N/A |
| Exclaim!
|Exclaim!'s 50 Best Albums of 2022 |39 |
| The Forty-Five
|Albums of the year 2022 |4 |
| Gigwise
|Gigwise's 51 Best Albums of 2022 |10 |
| GQ
|Best Albums of 2022 |N/A |
| NME
|The 50 Best Albums of 2022 |21 |
| Northern Transmission
|Top 50 Albums of 2022 |24 | |
| ourculture
|The 50 Best Albums of 2022 |45 |
| Pitchfork
|The 50 Best Albums of 2022 |43 |
| Pitchfork
|The 38 Best Rock Albums of 2022 |N/A |
| The Ringer
|The 33 Best Albums of 2022 |25 |
| Rolling Stone
|The 100 Best Albums of 2022 |60 |
| Slant Magazine
|The 50 Best Albums of 2022 |25 |
| Under the Radar
|The 100 Best Albums of 2022 |11 |
| Yardbarker
|The 20 Best Indie Albums of 2022 |N/A |
Track listing
{{Track listing
| all_writing = Mitski, except where noted
| headline = Laurel Hell track listing
| total_length = 32:25
| title1 = Valentine, Texas
| length1 = 2:35
| title2 = Working for the Knife
| length2 = 2:38
| title3 = Stay Soft
| length3 = 3:16
| title4 = Everyone
| length4 = 3:47
| title5 = Heat Lightning
| length5 = 2:51
| title6 = The Only Heartbreaker
| note6 = Mitski, Dan Wilson
| length6 = 3:04
| title7 = Love Me More
| length7 = 3:32
| title8 = There's Nothing Left for You
| length8 = 2:52
| title9 = Should've Been Me
| length9 = 3:11
| title10 = I Guess
| length10 = 2:15
| title11 = That's Our Lamp
| length11 = 2:24
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Japanese edition bonus tracks{{cite web|url=http://bignothing.blog88.fc2.com/blog-entry-12466.html|title=Mitski {{!}} Big Nothing / LAUREL HELL |work=ビッグ・ナッシング / ローレル・ヘル|accessdate=January 28, 2023|language=ja-JP}}
| total_length = 39:03
| title12 = Glide
| note12 = Lily Chou-Chou
| length12 = 3:41
| title13 = Valentine, Texas
| note13 = demo version
| length13 = 2:49
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Rough Trade exclusive bonus tracks{{cite web|url=https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/mitski/laurel-hell/lp-plus-2|title=Mitski – Laurel Hell – Vinyl LP+|website=Rough Trade (shops)|access-date=November 11, 2021}}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
| title12 = Valentine, Texas
| note12 = demo version
| length12 = 2:49
| title13 = Love Me More
| note13 = demo version
| length13 =
| title14 = Stay Soft
| note14 = acoustic version
| length14 =
| title15 = Glide (Lily Chou-Chou)
| length15 = 3:41
| total_length =
}}
Notes
- "There's Nothing Left for You" was initially released digitally with the title "There's Nothing Left Here for You"{{Cite web |title=Laurel Hell by Mitski |url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/laurel-hell/1589295663 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205001157/https://music.apple.com/us/album/laurel-hell/1589295663 |archive-date=February 5, 2022 |access-date=February 10, 2022 |website=Apple Music}}
Personnel
- Mitski – keyboards, vocals
- Patrick Hyland – guitar, percussion, synthesizer; production, recording, mixing
- Elizabeth Chan – drums (tracks 3, 8, 9, 11)
- K. Marie Kim – additional keyboards (9, 11)
- Evan Marien – bass guitar (9, 11)
- Brooke Waggoner – piano (1, 3)
- Ted Jensen – mastering
- Ryan Smith – vinyl mastering
- Ebru Yildiz – photo{{Cite web |title=Covers |url=https://www.ebruyildiz.net/covers |access-date=2022-08-05 |website=EBRU YILDIZ |language=en-US}}
- Mary Banas – album design{{Cite web |title=Mitski's Laurel Hell |url=https://yesismore.us/Mitski-s-Laurel-Hell |access-date=2022-08-05 |website=Yes Is More |language=en}}
- Corinne Ang – typeface "Resolve"
Charts
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ Chart performance for Laurel Hell ! scope="col"| Chart (2022) ! scope="col"| Peak |
| {{album chart|Australia|7|artist=Mitski|album=Laurel Hell|rowheader=true|access-date=February 11, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|Austria|47|artist=Mitski|album=Laurel Hell|rowheader=true|access-date=February 15, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|Flanders|30|artist=Mitski|album=Laurel Hell|rowheader=true|access-date=February 13, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|Wallonia|108|artist=Mitski|album=Laurel Hell|rowheader=true|access-date=February 13, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|BillboardCanada|36|artist=Mitski|album=Laurel Hell|rowheader=true|access-date=February 15, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|Netherlands|51|artist=Mitski|album=Laurel Hell|rowheader=true|access-date=February 12, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|Finland|15|artist=Mitski|album=Laurel Hell|rowheader=true|access-date=February 13, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|France|173|M|url=https://snepmusique.com/les-tops/le-top-de-la-semaine/top-albums/?semaine=6?&annee=2022&categorie=Top%20Albums|title=Top Albums (Week 6, 2022)|publisher=SNEP|artist=Mitski|album=Laurel Hell|rowheader=true|access-date=February 14, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|Germany4|28|id=491774|artist=Mitski|album=Laurel Hell|rowheader=true|access-date=February 11, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|Ireland3|7|date=20220211|rowheader=true|access-date=February 11, 2022}} |
| scope="row"| Lithuanian Albums (AGATA){{cite web|url=https://www.agata.lt/lt/naujienos/s06/|title=2022 6-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)|publisher=AGATA|language=lt|date=February 11, 2022|access-date=February 11, 2022}}
| 37 |
|---|
| scope="row"| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ){{cite web|url=https://aotearoamusiccharts.co.nz/archive/albums/2022-02-11|title=NZ Top 40 Albums Chart|publisher=Recorded Music NZ|date=February 14, 2022|access-date=February 12, 2022}}
| 14 |
| {{album chart|Portugal|23|artist=Mitski|album=Laurel Hell|rowheader=true|access-date=February 18, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|Scotland|4|date=20220211|rowheader=true|access-date=February 12, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|Spain|41|M|url=https://www.elportaldemusica.es/lists/top-100-albums/2022/6|title=Top 100 Albums Weekly|work=Promusicae|publisher=El portal de Música|artist=Mitski|album=Laurel Hell|rowheader=true|access-date=February 20, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|Switzerland|91|artist=Mitski|album=Laurel Hell|rowheader=true|access-date=February 13, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|UK2|6|date=20220211|rowheader=true|access-date=February 11, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|UKIndependent|3|date=20220211|rowheader=true|access-date=February 12, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|Billboard200|5|artist=Mitski|rowheader=true|access-date=February 13, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|BillboardIndependent|2|artist=Mitski|rowheader=true|access-date=February 15, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|BillboardAlternative|1|artist=Mitski|rowheader=true|access-date=February 14, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|BillboardRock|1|artist=Mitski|rowheader=true|access-date=February 14, 2022}} |