Mitski Announces New Album, ‘Nothingʼs About to Happen to Me,’ Out in February

Mitski has revealed that her eighth studio album, titled "Nothing's About to Happen to Me," will arrive on February 27 through the independent label Dead Oceans. The announcement was accompanied by the release of a lead single, "Where's My Phone?," and a music video directed by Noel Paul. The visual's stark, gothic tone draws direct inspiration from Shirley Jackson's unsettling novel, "We Have Always Lived in the Castle."

According to the album's description, the project centers on a woman residing in domestic chaos. Though viewed as an outsider, she discovers a powerful autonomy within her own disordered world. Mitski, an artist celebrated for her raw, confessional songwriting, penned all the material and performs every vocal. The production and engineering were overseen by her longtime collaborator Patrick Hyland, with mastering completed by Bob Weston at the famed Chicago Mastering Service—a studio integral to the sound of seminal indie records from artists like Sleater-Kinney and The Jesus Lizard.

Sonically, the eleven-track record extends the lush, Americana-infused palette of her 2023 critically acclaimed work, "The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We." It utilizes the same live band from her recent tour, which was captured in a concert film, indicating a purposeful refinement of this artistic direction. This evolution aligns with observations from critics like Variety's Chris Willman, who noted the "programmatic but viscerally engaging" nature of her recent shows, comparing her stagecraft to that of David Byrne. The two artists previously worked together on "This Is a Life," a song from the film *Everything Everywhere All at Once* that received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song in 2023.

The tracklist opens with "In a Lake" and closes with "Lightning," featuring other provocative titles such as "Cats," "Dead Women," and "Charon's Obol." The final title references an ancient Greek funerary practice where a coin was placed in a corpse's mouth as payment for the ferryman of the dead. This classical nod underscores Mitski's enduring exploration of mythic and existential questions, a hallmark that resonates with her dedicated fanbase. Industry observers point to this blend of intellectual depth and visceral melody as a primary reason for her consistent chart presence within alternative music, where she has become a defining voice.

The album's thematic focus on solitary self-determination arrives during a broader cultural conversation about autonomy and connection. As music journalist Elena Torres noted, "Mitski possesses a rare ability to frame modern alienation not merely as a loss, but as a fraught arena for identity creation. This new work feels like a necessary and audacious progression." This perspective suggests the album may further cement her role as a crucial chronicler of contemporary emotional life, building on a catalog that has profoundly influenced a generation of listeners and artists alike.