Before the modern age of artists creating pop hits to simply gain instant fame and fortune, there was an art behind writing lyrics and producing thoughtful, meaningful music. Musicians would spend hours creating intimate and personalized lyrics, finding a medium to thoroughly express themselves. Unfortunately, with the current music industry placing a large amount of pressure on artists to create music that will simply hook listeners in with catchy beats and repetitive lyrics, artists have strayed away from creating art, leading songwriting to become a dying art form. 

Fortunately, some artists, such as Mitsuki Laycock, better known as Mitski, are trying to keep the art of songwriting alive. 

With the release of her seventh studio album, “The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We," Mitski takes the listener on a journey through the past few years of her life. This album, like a “digital diary," is filled with songs based on her own life as well as stories based on characters she created to discuss important issues such as sexual assault and domestic violence. 

In this album, she explores themes of love, hopelessness, and the harsh reality behind trying to forget cherished memories. 

As seen in songs such as “When Memories Snow” and “I Don’t Like My Mind,” she explores these themes of life. The lyrics in “When Memories Snow” discuss the harsh reality of moving forward and learning to stop cherishing the memories spent with those who did not truly care for you. The lyrics “And when memories melt, I hear them in the drainpipe, drippin’ through the downspout, as I lie awake in the dark” show how memories are difficult to forget as they, like snow, do not melt away instantly. Additionally, like snow, which is comprised of speckles of ice and water mushed together, memories are dense and meaningful, making them hard to suddenly disappear from the face of the earth, something that applies to both snow and the memories stuck in one’s mind. In contrast, the faster beat and her enthusiastic tone allow the audience to understand how she truly feels: she wants to move on as quickly as possible.

Additionally, in “I Don’t Like My Mind," she portrays this theme of hopelessness and wanting her lover to never replace her, despite knowing that she is only fighting the inevitable. The lyrics “Please don’t take this job [loving you] from me” and “I work myself to the bone,” along with her voice sounding desperate and the simple yet depressing piano background track, allow the listener to understand her feelings of despair and hopelessness after begging for the bare minimum from someone who did not care for her or the love she showered them with.

This summer, as I move forward in my academic career and start my college application journey, I know how this album will continue to motivate me, as, like Mitski’s songs, I hope my essays (for my college applications) are meaningful and unique, allowing me to stand out amongst other highly competitive applicants fighting for the same one thousand (or less) open spots in many top universities incoming freshman classes. 

Despite the many challenges Mitski initially faced in her career, her hard work and dedication to preventing the extinction of such a beautiful art form will never go unnoticed. From her meaningful lyrics to her beautiful voice, her music, especially this album, is a piece of art, a gem amongst a slowly rotting music industry.