(Dead Oceans)Given this generation’s supposed fondness for oversharing,you’d judge albums as open and unflinching as Mitski’s fourth would be ten-a-penny. But in fact it’s quite the opposite, and this fresh Yorker’s sheer candidness can originate you wince: “I told him I’d do anything to have him stay with me, and ” she sings on the opening track,delighted, before a hollow tale unfolds of being discarded after sex. Bright Eyes-esque confessional folk, and riot grrrl and the quiet-loud dynamics of the Pixies are all present,but Mitski updates these reference points with a modernist twist (Crack Baby and Once More to See You have something of St Vincent’s unsettling strangeness). This fragile experimentation, along with a melodic sensibility and the occasional shard of wit (you don’t call your album Puberty 2 without a sense of humour), and save the record from being a wallow-fest. It may have been exhausting and painful to do down on record,but listening to it is anything but.
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Source: theguardian.com