Be The Cowboy - Mitski

Indie-rock, retro-pop, psychedelic vocals, and sounds reminiscent of 90s alternative with 80s synthesizers are just a few notable aspects of Mitski's Be The Cowboy.

Honestly, it is difficult to describe Mitski's music on Be The Cowboy. When you expect the melodic phrase to continue one way, she changes the note and tone slightly. It gives a dreamy mood to Mitski's music, flowing in whichever direction she decides to take it. It's emotionally driven and isn't definable by any genre, instead it encompasses Mitski's personality and taste. "I will be whatever it needs me to be. I will do whatever it needs me to do in order for me to continue to be able to make music," she explains in an interview with NPR. Mitski has an extremely artistic mindest towards writing and music, allowing herself to be moved by sound instead of forcing it. Resulting in every track being passionate and creative.

Geyser opens up the album with Mitski's haunting vocals. Grungy guitar chords and percussions slowly build to a dramatic, upbeat harmony worthy of a movie soundtrack. "I think this is one of my vaguest songs," she tells NPR. "Usually my songs have a narrative of some sort. But this song is all feeling." At the chorus, she sings "Though I'm a geyser, feel it bubbling from below // Hear it call, hear it call, hear it call to me, constantly // And hear the harmony only when it's harming me // It's not real, it's not real, it's not real enough." Mitski explains the meaning of this verse to NPR saying, "There’s something in me that needs to come out, and it’s not being fed by this career in music, or this act of creating music. But then I go back to thinking, ‘But it doesn’t even matter, if doesn’t even matter if it’s good for me. I will be whatever it needs to be, I will do whatever it needs me to do in order for me to continue to be able to make music.’ And so, it’s not really about a person, which might disappoint listeners because it’s so much more romantic if it was about a person. But it is about just like, following an idea regardless of whether it’s actually good for you.”

Nobody has a disco-pop melody with a dreamy chorus that dips you into melancholic lyrics about lonliness: "My God, I'm so lonely // So I open the window // To hear sounds of people // To hear sounds of people." In an interview with The Guardian, Mitski said “Everyone has a different reason for making music, mine is I want to feel connected to other people...I’ve always grown up feeling lonely or other, but through my music, I can be like: ‘Look, we’re the same, we’ve felt the same thing, so we’re not so different. I belong here.’ It’s almost like a hungry monster that’s just a constant need to feel connection.”

Why Didn't You Stop Me feels like 90s alt-rock and disco beats. Meanwhile, A Pearl and Remember My Name have an indie rock, alternative vibe. Both wield power; an edgy, feminine power. Mitski tells The Guardian, “When I say feminine album, immediately the perception is that it must be soft and lovely, but I mean feminine in the violent sense. Desiring, but not being able to define your desire, wanting power but being powerless and blaming it on yourself, or just hurting yourself as a way to let out the aggression in you. It’s a lot of pent-up anger or desire without a socially acceptable outlet...People cannot fathom the fact that maybe a woman created something from nothing, and that she has control over what she makes. People have worked so hard to try to make me seem like I don’t know what I’m doing. But I know exactly what I’m doing.”

Each song is decorated with charismatic lyrics that's both odd and enticing, and Mitski's unique vocals paint the music with constantly changing tones. Listening, it feels like she sings while reminiscing old memories, giving a nostalgic, longing sound to her voice. Also, Mitski is repetitive with her verses and many do not rhyme, lending to her free musical framework. But the artist doesn't try to conform to common pop structure. Instead, she allows herself to explore flexibility in music form with note placement, instruments, and how she sings. Her unique, contemplative and storytelling lyrics enable her to flow within the sound. Mitski's music and voice is fluid like water, moving as she pleases.

Listening to Be The Cowboy, you can easily drift into the music, floating within a speculative and malleable space. Meanwhile, Mistki may allow her vocal range to be effervescent, her songwriting is a continuing stream because of its free-poetry like style. “you can do what you want—it doesn’t have to be this pop formula, and you don’t have to have this voice or look this way," Mitski tells the New Yorker. All in all, Be The Cowboy is individual, doleful, but spirited.

Listen to the album here: https://open.spotify.com/album/653wRjqO0GOZPQPcXpeAXD?si=E1SUwGEPRFSJG-31RL30mA