- Rock Island Line
- (I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle
- Country Boy
- If The Good Lord's Willing
- Cry! Cry! Cry!
- Remember Me (I'm The One Who Loves You)
- So Doggone Lonesome
- I Was There When It Happened
- I Walk The Line
- The Wreck Of The Old 7
- Folsom Prison Blues
- Doin' My Time
Cerca:u man
- Keme Bourama
- Sozani
- Kasse Dya
- Kasse Moro
- Fognana Kouma
- Niagaleba
- Kaira
- Simbo
- Mande Djali
- Toumaro
Kasse Mady Diabate, a key figure in Malian music, left his mark on history with his gentle yet powerful voice, earning him the nickname "the golden voice of Mali". A respected Mandingo artist, he was known for his ability to touch souls with melodies and texts steeped in depth and tradition. As a griot, he carried the musical heritage of his people with dignity and talent. The album title song, Toumaro (A bientôt), written by his daughter Hawa Kasse Mady Diabate, is part of this heritage, celebrating love and gratitude. After Kasse Mady"s sudden death in 2018, Hawa continued the album her father had started, offering a poignant tribute to his legacy and a beautiful way to connect with him spiritually through music. Hawa herself is an iconic figure on the Malian music scene, particularly as a member of Trio Da Kali, the griot "super-group" whose album Ladilikan with the Kronos Quartet was a true masterpiece. Toumaro is a testament to the richness of the griot tradition, carried on by artists such as Hawa as well as Lassana Diabate and Madou Kouyate. Their collaboration on Toumaro with renowned musicians underlines the importance of passing on cultural and musical values, while renewing the genre through contemporary arrangements.
"After two EPs and an illuminating start to his career, Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Venna releases his debut album, Malik. Not wanting to be rooted in jazz alone, Malik embodies the melting pot of sounds that
reflects Venna’s environment. Bossa Nova influences can be heard across the album, as well as a deep love for Soul, R&B, and Rap. Venna’s broad range shines bright in his choice of collaborators, including vocalists Jorja Smith, Leon Thomas, MIKE, and Smino, as well as instrumentalists such as Yussef Dayes and Marco Bernardis.
It’s a beautiful rarity when an artist sees themselves as a vessel of the music, and though Malik is a manifestation of his experiences and how he sees the world and years of craft, Venna wants Malik to be an invitation. An invitation to let go, be present and submit to sensory experiences."
- 1: Give Me A Minute
- 2: Nothing / Sad N Stuff
- 3: Over-The-Ocean Call (Andrew)
- 4: I Knew
- 5: Where Do I Go?
- 6: To The Mountains
- 7: You, Love (Interlude)
- 8: Means Something
- 9: Same Boat
- 10: Pancakes For Dinner
- 11: How Do I Tell You?
- 12: Apple Pie
- 13: Headstones And Land Mines
Pink vinyl reissue of singer-songwriter Lizzy McAlpine's debut album, Give Me A Minute, which was originally self-released in August 2020. The album features hit tracks "Pancakes for Dinner" and "To The Mountains". Lizzy has since released two more full length album, and has grown to over 11M monthly listeners on Spotify, and just under 1M followers on Instagram.
- A1: Original
- B1: Instrumental
The talented Canadian vocalist Tara Laine recorded the funky gem “You Made Me Believe” with members of the band Change, an Italian-
American post-disco group that was heavily influenced by Chic. Recorded in 1985 for the legendary Street Level label, featured here is he
original 12” version complete with bonus instrumental. This session was produced by in-demand session drummer Leslie Ming, whose fine work
can be heard on the records of Kashif, Melba Moore, B.T. Express and many others.
- Suburbs
- Onward Indian
- Passing These Days
- On The Run
- Fear & Loathing In Vienna
- Waving From The Other Side
- Fun Funn Funnn
- La-La-La Mdma
- Here We Go Again
- This Is No Rebellion (It's A Matter Of Fact)
Nach über einem Jahrzehnt psychedelischer Odysseen, Kultstatus und internationaler Tourneen kehrt Dresdens beliebtes Psych?Kollektiv The Roaring 420s mit "We're All In It Together" zurück - dem lang erwarteten dritten Album und zugleich triumphalen Abschiedswerk der Band in ihrer ursprünglichen Besetzung. Die Songs glänzen mit 60s-Gitarren, wirbelnden Orgeln, Reverse?Fuzzes und strahlenden Gesangsharmonien. Ob man es nun Garagenrock, Surf, Psych oder Exotica nennt - eines ist klar: Diese Fahrt wird wild. Und wir sind alle dabei.
Die legendäre Metalcore-Band blessthefall kehrt mit ihrem ersten neuen Album seit sieben Jahren zurück.
Neben den Singles „Wake The Dead“ und „Drag Me Under“ enthält das Album auch Gastauftritte von
Alpha Wolf, Story Of The Year und Caskets. Die Band geht im September/Oktober zeitgleich mit
der Albumveröffentlichung auf US-Tournee. Außerdem wird sie bei den diesjährigen Konzerten des neu
aufgelegten Vans Warped Tour Festivals auftreten.
Lanie Gardner, von der RIAA als „Artist to Watch“ bezeichnet und mit Bands wie den Jonas Brothers
oder Jelly Roll auf Tournee gewesen, steigert mit ihrem kommenden 18 Titel umfassenden Album „Faded
Polaroids“ die Lautstärke und die Vorfreude – ein genreübergreifendes Meisterwerk, das ihre künstlerische
Stimme definieren wird. Voller dynamischer Energie und emotionaler Tiefe verspricht das zweite Projekt,
das die lebendigen Grooves ihrer Sommer-EP „Polaroids“ enthält, eine kaleidoskopische Klangreise. Durch
die Verschmelzung der rauen Seele des Blues, des erzählerischen Herzens des Country, der Härte des Rock
und des verträumten Pulsierens des Pop hat jeder Track seine eigene Identität – manche intim und rau wie
„Concrete Cowboy“, andere mutig und filmisch wie „The Hill Have Eyes“ – und Gardners charakteristischer
samtweicher Gesang führt die Zuhörer durch Themen wie Sehnsucht, Widerstandskraft und Selbstfindung.
Einflüsse von Fleetwood Mac bis Chris Stapleton schimmern durch das gesamte Album, überlagert mit
unerwarteten Wendungen und üppigen Klangtexturen. „Faded Polaroids“ erscheint am 5. September und
ist ihr bisher ehrgeizigstes und eindringlichstes Projekt – ein Album, das Genregrenzen nicht nur niederreißt,
sondern sie durch furchtlose Kreativität implodieren lässt.
Multi-Platin Sänger und Songwriter Rob Thomas veröffentlicht sein sechstes Studioalbum „All Night Days“
und erreicht somit einen neuen Meilenstein seiner beeindruckenden Karriere. Getreu seinem Stil, schreibt
er auch in diesem Projekt darüber, dass man sein Leben in vollen Zügen genießen soll, auch wenn die
typischen „All Night Days“ immer seltener kommen als damals.
Vor dem Albumrelease hat der Künstler seinen Fans bereits mit den beiden Songs „Hard To Be Happy“
und „Thrill Me“ einen Vorgeschmack auf sein neustes Werk gegeben, welche den Facettenreichtum seines
Projektes widerspiegeln.
„All Night Days“ ist als Vinyl und CD erhältlich.
Das estnische Vokalensemble Vox Clamantis und dessen Leiter Jaan-Eik Tulve haben sich im Laufe der
inzwischen 25 Jahre langen engen Zusammenarbeit mit Arvo Pärt als führende Interpreten seiner Musik
etabliert – eine Beziehung, die auf der fast ein halbes Jahrzehnt währenden künstlerischen Partnerschaft
zwischen Pärt und dem Produzenten Manfred Eicher baut. Über die ECM New Series-Aufnahme The Deer’s
Cry des Ensembles meinte das BBC Music Magazine: „Das künstlerische Niveau, das nötig ist, um eine so
lebendige und atmende Interpretation wie die von Vox Clamantis zu erreichen, ist selten anzutreffen. Diese
eindringlich authentische und hervorragend gesungene Aufnahme gehört wohl zu den überzeugendsten auf
einer CD befindlichen Einführungen in Arvo Pärts Musik”. And I heard a voice, aufgenommen im Dom zu
Haapsalu, Estland, und anlässlich von Arvo Pärts 90. Geburtstag veröffentlicht – zeigt, wie sich die enge
Verbindung zwischen Chor und Komponist, getragen von einem gemeinsamen Gespür für Gregorianischen
Gesang ebenso wie für zeitgenössische Musik, weiterhin vertieft.
Die FETENHITS-Folge NDW Neue Deutsche Welle wurde neu aufgelegt - mit verändertem Tracklisting.
Einige Titel, die auf der früheren Folge fehlten, sind nun endlich mit dabei, wie z.B. ”Der Mussolini” und
”Als wär’s das letzte Mal” von DAF sowie ”Der Kommissar” von Falco. Des weiteren finden sich einige
tolle Raritäten von Michael Cretu, Alphaville und Thomas Anders wieder. Man darf gespannt bleiben...
Als 3CD & Download und im September dann auch als 4-fach Vinyl!
- A1: Intro
- A2: Blah Blah Blah
- A3: Medina’s In Da House
- A4: Danger - Pt. 2
- B1: Don’t Let This Rap Shit Fool You
- B2: Pain I Feel
- B3: Posse Jumpa
- C1: Maniac Cop
- C2: Good Cop / Bad Cop
- C3: Sendin’ Dem Back
- D1: Long Winded
- D2: Jackpot
- D3: Danger
Blah Blah Blah is the 1996 debut album by Brooklyn-based hip hop duo Blahzay Blahzay, composed of DJ P.F. Cuttin' and rapper Outloud. Their big breakthrough was the single "Danger", which was issued as the lead single of their 1996 album Blah Blah Blah. The single contains many samples, including Beastie Boys and Q-Tip "Get It Together", Gwen McCrae "Rockin' Chair", and Jeru The Damaja "Come Clean". It reached #4 on the Billboard Hip Hop Chart and #46 on the Billboard Hot 100. The tracks "Pain I Feel", "Good Cop/Bad Cop" and "Danger, Pt. 2" also gained traction. The album featured guest performances by Dark Man, Smoothe Da Hustler and Trigga Tha Gambla.
- 7: Grandmother
- 1: Incomprehensible
- 2: Words
- 3: Los Angeles
- 4: All Night All Day
- 5: Double Infinity
- 6: No Fear
- 8: Happy With You
- 9: How Could I Have Known
Big Thief will release their sixth studio album, Double Infinity, on 5 September 2025.
Double Infinity is the follow-up to 2022’s Grammy-nominated album, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, recorded last winter at the Power Station, New York City. For three solid weeks, the trio would ride bicycles on frozen streets between Brooklyn and Manhattan, meeting in Power’s Station’s warm wood-panelled room. Together with a community of musicians (Alena Spanger, Caleb Michel, Hannah Cohen, Jon Nellen, Joshua Crumbly, June McDoom, Laraaji, Mikel Patrick Avery, Mikey Buishas) they would play for nine hours a day, tracking together – simultaneously – improvising arrangements and making collective discoveries. Double Infinity was produced, engineered and mixed by longtime Big Thief collaborator Dom Monks.
“How can beauty that is living be anything but true?” Adrianne asks as she drives nose against the future with childhood mementos on ‘Incomprehensible’. She understands, “everything I see from now on will be something new.” The silver hairs on her shoulders are new as well. Yet fear of aging is cracked by proof. If a life is shaped by living, “Let gravity be my sculptor, let the wind do my hair.” Being born, then staying a while, remains the greatest mystery. Adrianne claims her place and time. “Incomprehensible, let me be.”
g 7. Grandmother ft. Laraaji
[g] 7. Grandmother [ft. Laraaji]
[g] 7. Grandmother [ft. Laraaji]
- Dare
- Not My Rival
- Smug
- Wipe Out
- A Guilty Conscience Needs An Accuser
- Tunnel Vision
- Bad Seeds
- Love & Rage
- Caves/Outro
Black Vinyl[25,17 €]
Love & Rage, the brilliant 2024 debut album from London Queercore trio Shooting Daggers turned many heads with its jaw dropping depth and melody as well as blinding energy, feminist fury and angst. It has to be said that the band are not just bashing it out here. The playing is knockout and the vocals in particular are a standout. Singer Sal proving that she can do hard and fast and cool and melodic with equal aplomb. Add in some really inventive vocal arrangements and harmonies, and you have a band that is pushing that hardcore envelope big time. 2nd edition in Pink vinyl, full colour single outer sleeve, with a full colour printed inner sleeve, with an exclusive A4 poster included as well as a full download code. `Shooting Daggers may well have already made 2024's finest punk album'- Metal Hammer 'a ferocious brand of self-styled queercore punk rock that takes no prisoners' - Kerrang. 'a truly empowering album' - Noizze.
Second part of second album! Originating from Normandy, France, psychedelic noise-pop quartet You Said Strange presents a unique blend of indie rock that incorporates elements of psych pop-rock, shoegaze, and proto-grunge. Thousand Shadows volume 2, a second chapter was needed to highlight the many shadows that still linger everywhere. The shadows that linger on the borders, hiding the violence of the fights for them. The shadows that time has on the relationships and their persistence, because the shadows move. Plato's cave, modern version, would be the one of toxic relationships, antidepressants and the acceptance of the regression of freedom and/or the vision of a dying world... Between shoegaze, noise pop and psychedelic rock, You Said Strange absorbs its time to incant a music in which melancholy, love and the search for plenitude meet. The band recorded their first album, Salvation Prayer, in 2018 in Portland (USA), with Peter G. Holmstrom from The Dandy Warhols, which saw release via Fuzz Club Recirds. In 2022, the band shared their LP Thousand Shadows Vol. 1. Mythomaniac kings, the Mediterranean, the colors of mourning _ these are the detailed subjects, described against a backdrop of psychedelic pop, proto grunge, and shoegaze. The first part of a powerful, reverberant, melodious second album, drawing its inspiration and production stem from encounters during their 2022 European and North American tours, between Normandy, New York, and Oregon. Most recently, You Said Strange shared the second part of their sophomore release, a follow-up to Vol. 1 entitled Thousand Shadows Vol. 2.
Big Thief will release their sixth studio album, Double Infinity, on 5 September 2025.
Double Infinity is the follow-up to 2022’s Grammy-nominated album, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, recorded last winter at the Power Station, New York City. For three solid weeks, the trio would ride bicycles on frozen streets between Brooklyn and Manhattan, meeting in Power’s Station’s warm wood-panelled room. Together with a community of musicians (Alena Spanger, Caleb Michel, Hannah Cohen, Jon Nellen, Joshua Crumbly, June McDoom, Laraaji, Mikel Patrick Avery, Mikey Buishas) they would play for nine hours a day, tracking together – simultaneously – improvising arrangements and making collective discoveries. Double Infinity was produced, engineered and mixed by longtime Big Thief collaborator Dom Monks.
“How can beauty that is living be anything but true?” Adrianne asks as she drives nose against the future with childhood mementos on ‘Incomprehensible’. She understands, “everything I see from now on will be something new.” The silver hairs on her shoulders are new as well. Yet fear of aging is cracked by proof. If a life is shaped by living, “Let gravity be my sculptor, let the wind do my hair.” Being born, then staying a while, remains the greatest mystery. Adrianne claims her place and time. “Incomprehensible, let me be.”
g 7. Grandmother ft. Laraaji
g 7. Grandmother ft. Laraaji
[g] 7. Grandmother [ft. Laraaji]
[g] 7. Grandmother [ft. Laraaji]
[g] 7. Grandmother [ft. Laraaji]
- 1: Iron Gate
- 2: Death Of Day
- 3: It Washes Over
- 4: Hole
- 5: White Noise
- 6: Eviscerate
- 7: October
- 8: Mater Dolorosa
- 9: The Well
- 10: Meet Your Maker
Los Angeles trio Faetooth sophomore album Labyrinthine is a deeply felt exploration of emotional weight: grief, memory, uncertainty, and the quiet work of growing around your own wounds. Following the band's 2022 debut Remnants of the Vessel, which introduced the band’s signature blend of heaviness and mysticism, Labyrinthine pushes further inward. True to its name, the album winds through a maze of feeling and form, where meaning is never handed over easily. It’s rooted in self-discovery through disorientation, the idea that understanding comes not from escape, but from getting lost. Ari May (guitars and vocals), Jenna Garcia (bass and vocals), and Rah Kanan (drums) manage to stay grounded in the immediate in parallel with fantasy themes of the band's namesake. Labyrinthine holds space for this contradiction; tenderness and intensity, restraint and release. The band's self-branded “fairy doom” sound fits between shoegaze, doom, and grunge. It isn’t just texture; it’s a framework for navigating the unsaid. Like the myth that inspired its title, Labyrinthine doesn’t end in victory, but in confrontation—not with escape, but with the Minotaur. Only here, the Minotaur isn’t a monster. It’s something quiet and more familiar: unresolved feelings, old memories, and sadness that refuse to stay buried. The album winds like a maze, sometimes heavy, sometimes hushed, always intentional. Faetooth isn’t chasing catharsis. They’re creating space to reflect, to feel, and maybe to get a little lost along the way.
Artist quote: "White Noise" emerged from a diary entry, and is a relentless and intense reflection on inner turmoil. We’re often drawn to the familiar, even when we don’t realize we’re reaching out for it. It is an emotional upheaval, carrying harsh truths that weigh heavily on the heart. Guitarist, Ari May mentions, “Performing the song always takes me back to a specific place, even if just for a moment.”
“Riffs and melodies brimming with loneliness and longing… this band’s incantations affect my mood the whole day after listening.” — The Sleeping Shaman
“Bringing otherworldly hazy doom goodness… dreamy clean vocals, echoing harsh vocals, entrancing riffs, meditative shoegaze melodies.” — Nine Circles
“Slow, lumbering behemoths of great weight… couched in a melancholy atmosphere and explosions of crushing heaviness.” - Where Strides The Behemoth
Los Angeles trio Faetooth sophomore album Labyrinthine is a deeply felt exploration of emotional weight: grief, memory, uncertainty, and the quiet work of growing around your own wounds. Following the band's 2022 debut Remnants of the Vessel, which introduced the band’s signature blend of heaviness and mysticism, Labyrinthine pushes further inward. True to its name, the album winds through a maze of feeling and form, where meaning is never handed over easily. It’s rooted in self-discovery through disorientation, the idea that understanding comes not from escape, but from getting lost. Ari May (guitars and vocals), Jenna Garcia (bass and vocals), and Rah Kanan (drums) manage to stay grounded in the immediate in parallel with fantasy themes of the band's namesake. Labyrinthine holds space for this contradiction; tenderness and intensity, restraint and release. The band's self-branded “fairy doom” sound fits between shoegaze, doom, and grunge. It isn’t just texture; it’s a framework for navigating the unsaid. Like the myth that inspired its title, Labyrinthine doesn’t end in victory, but in confrontation—not with escape, but with the Minotaur. Only here, the Minotaur isn’t a monster. It’s something quiet and more familiar: unresolved feelings, old memories, and sadness that refuse to stay buried. The album winds like a maze, sometimes heavy, sometimes hushed, always intentional. Faetooth isn’t chasing catharsis. They’re creating space to reflect, to feel, and maybe to get a little lost along the way.
Artist quote: "White Noise" emerged from a diary entry, and is a relentless and intense reflection on inner turmoil. We’re often drawn to the familiar, even when we don’t realize we’re reaching out for it. It is an emotional upheaval, carrying harsh truths that weigh heavily on the heart. Guitarist, Ari May mentions, “Performing the song always takes me back to a specific place, even if just for a moment.”
“Riffs and melodies brimming with loneliness and longing… this band’s incantations affect my mood the whole day after listening.” — The Sleeping Shaman
“Bringing otherworldly hazy doom goodness… dreamy clean vocals, echoing harsh vocals, entrancing riffs, meditative shoegaze melodies.” — Nine Circles
“Slow, lumbering behemoths of great weight… couched in a melancholy atmosphere and explosions of crushing heaviness.” - Where Strides The Behemoth
Los Angeles trio Faetooth sophomore album Labyrinthine is a deeply felt exploration of emotional weight: grief, memory, uncertainty, and the quiet work of growing around your own wounds. Following the band's 2022 debut Remnants of the Vessel, which introduced the band’s signature blend of heaviness and mysticism, Labyrinthine pushes further inward. True to its name, the album winds through a maze of feeling and form, where meaning is never handed over easily. It’s rooted in self-discovery through disorientation, the idea that understanding comes not from escape, but from getting lost. Ari May (guitars and vocals), Jenna Garcia (bass and vocals), and Rah Kanan (drums) manage to stay grounded in the immediate in parallel with fantasy themes of the band's namesake. Labyrinthine holds space for this contradiction; tenderness and intensity, restraint and release. The band's self-branded “fairy doom” sound fits between shoegaze, doom, and grunge. It isn’t just texture; it’s a framework for navigating the unsaid. Like the myth that inspired its title, Labyrinthine doesn’t end in victory, but in confrontation—not with escape, but with the Minotaur. Only here, the Minotaur isn’t a monster. It’s something quiet and more familiar: unresolved feelings, old memories, and sadness that refuse to stay buried. The album winds like a maze, sometimes heavy, sometimes hushed, always intentional. Faetooth isn’t chasing catharsis. They’re creating space to reflect, to feel, and maybe to get a little lost along the way.
Artist quote: "White Noise" emerged from a diary entry, and is a relentless and intense reflection on inner turmoil. We’re often drawn to the familiar, even when we don’t realize we’re reaching out for it. It is an emotional upheaval, carrying harsh truths that weigh heavily on the heart. Guitarist, Ari May mentions, “Performing the song always takes me back to a specific place, even if just for a moment.”
“Riffs and melodies brimming with loneliness and longing… this band’s incantations affect my mood the whole day after listening.” — The Sleeping Shaman
“Bringing otherworldly hazy doom goodness… dreamy clean vocals, echoing harsh vocals, entrancing riffs, meditative shoegaze melodies.” — Nine Circles
“Slow, lumbering behemoths of great weight… couched in a melancholy atmosphere and explosions of crushing heaviness.” - Where Strides The Behemoth
"Laurel Hell" ist ein Soundtrack zur Transformation. Eine Landkarte für den Ort, an dem Verletzlichkeit und Widerstandsfähigkeit, Trauer und Freude, Fehler und Transzendenz in unserer Menschlichkeit Platz finden und als würdig angesehen werden können - um letztendlich anerkannt und geliebt zu werden. "I accept it all," verspricht MITSKI. "I forgive it all." Auf "Laurel Hell" festigt MITSKI ihren Ruf als Künstlerin, die die Kraft besitzt, unsere wildesten und zwiespältigsten Erfahrungen in ein heilendes Elixier zu verwandeln. "I wrote what I needed to hear. As I've always done." Nach der Veröffentlichung von "Be The Cowboy", einem der meistgelobten Alben des Jahres 2018, das von Outlets wie Pitchfork (u.a.) zum Album des Jahres gekürt wurde, stieg MITSKI vom Kultliebling zum Indie-Star auf. Mit spürbaren Folgen: Die Schinderei des Tourlebens und die Fallstricke die mit der erhöhten Sichtbarkeit einhergingen, beeinflussten ihre Musik ebenso wie ihren Geist, die sich in der ersten Single "Working For The Knife" niederschlägt. Ein Song, wie ein Prüfstein für das Gesamtgefühl von "Laurel Hell": "I start the day lying and end with the truth / That I'm dying for the knife." "Be The Cowboy" wurde von weiblicher Stärke und Trotz angetrieben, lebte jedoch von seinem Spiel mit Masken. Wie der Berglorbeer bzw. die "laurel hell", nach dem das neue Album benannt ist, kann die öffentliche Wahrnehmung, wie das berauschende Prisma des Internets, eine verlockende Fassade bieten, hinter der sich eine tödliche Falle verbirgt. Die sich immer enger zieht, je mehr man sich anstrengt. "I got to a point, where I just knew that if I kept going this way, I would numb myself to completion." Erschöpft von diesem verzerrten Spiegel und unserer Sucht nach falschen Binaritäten, begann MITSKI, Songs zu schreiben, die die Masken abstreifen und die komplexen und oft widersprüchlichen Realitäten dahinter offenbaren. MITSKI dazu: "I needed love songs about real relationships that are not power struggles to be won or lost. I needed songs that could help me forgive both others and myself. I make mistakes all the time. I don't want to put on a front where I'm a role model, but I'm also not a bad person. I needed to create this space mostly for myself where I sat in that gray area." Die daraus entstanden Songs verkörpern genau diesen Raum. Wie die zweite Single des Albums, "The Only Heartbreaker", die gemeinsam mit Dan Wilson geschrieben wurde und der erste Song dieser Art in ihrer Diskografie ist. "The Only Heartbreaker" verbindet treibenden 80er-Pop mit einem trügerisch einfachen Text, dessen aufrichtiger Refrain ins Ironische kippt, sobald dieser "the person always messing up in the relationship, the designated Bad Guy who gets the blame," beschreibt und sich zugleich fragt, ob "the reason you're always the one making mistakes is because you're the only one trying." MITSKI schrieb viele Songs für "Laurel Hell" während und teilweise vor 2018. Das Album wurde allerdings erst im Mai 2021 final abgemischt. Es ist die längste Zeitspanne, die MITSKI jemals für ein Album gebraucht hat und für die Musikerin inmitten einer radikal veränderten Welt endete. MITSKI nahm "Laurel Hell" mit ihrem langjährigen Produzenten Patrick Hyland in der Zeit der Isolation während der Pandemie auf, als einige der Songs "slowly took on new forms and meanings, like seed to flower." Das Album als Ganzes entwickelte sich "to be more uptempo and dance-y. I needed to create something that was also a pep talk" erklärt MITSKI. Die Spannung, die zwischen ihren raffinierten, aber wehmütigen Texten und dem sprudelnden Pop-Sound der 1980er Jahre entsteht, ist eine dringend benötigte Infusion in Zeiten wie diesen und das Werk einer reifen wie unwiderstehlichen Künstlerin, die auch zu fröhlich ansteckenden Dance-Beats immer noch etwas Profundes beizutragen hat.




















