Mitski Announces New Album, Be The Cowboy
Watch the video for lead single "Geyser" now
Photo by Bao NgoOne of 2016’s best albums is soon to receive a follow-up, as Mitski has announced her fifth studio LP, Be The Cowboy, out on Aug. 17 via Dead Oceans. The acclaimed indie rock singer-songwriter has also shared a video for lead single “Geyser,” directed by Zia Anger.
Whereas Mitski’s previous work has been characterized as emotionally raw and confessional, Be The Cowboy, which Mitski recorded with her long-time producer Patrick Hyland, “introduces a persona who has been teased before but never so fully present until now—a woman in control,” per a press release. As Mitski herself explains, “For this new record, I experimented in narrative and fiction,” creating characters including “a very controlled icy repressed woman who is starting to unravel. Because women have so little power and showing emotion is seen as weakness, this ‘character’ clings to any amount of control she can get. Still, there is something very primordial in her that is trying to find a way to get out.”
As for how “Geyser” fits into that narrative, the album opener “introduces us to a woman who can’t hold it all in any more. She’s about to burst and unleash a torrent of desire and passion that has been building up inside.” Anger’s cathartic visual accompaniment finds Mitski alone on a secluded beach under gray skies, beginning with thrumming synths and exploding in sound at its halfway point, as the singer takes off running down the shore.
“I had been on the road for a long time, which is so isolating, and had to run my own business at the same time,” says Mitski. “A lot of this record was me not having any feelings, being completely spent but then trying to rally myself and wake up and get back to Mitski.”
Watch the “Geyser” video and see the details of Be The Cowboy below, along with Mitski’s 2015 Daytrotter Session and tour slate. You can preorder her new album here.
Be The Cowboy Tracklist:
01. Geyser
02. Why Didn’t You Stop Me
03. Old Friend
04. A Pearl
05. Lonesome Love
06. Remember My Name
07. Me And My Husband
08. Come Into the Water
09. Nobody
10. Pink in the Night
11. A Horse Named Cold Air
12. Washing Machine Heart
13. Blue Light
14. Two Slow Dancers
Be The Cowboy Album Art:
Mitski Tour Dates:
June
09 – Bozeman, Mont. @ Rialto Bozeman – solo
12 – Fort Collins, Colo. @ The Armory ^ – solo
14 – Santa Fe, N.M. @ Meow Wolf ^ – solo
15 – El Paso, Texas @ The Lowbrow Palace ^ – solo
16 – Marfa, Texas @ Crowley Theater ^ – solo
20 – Oxford, Miss. @ Proud Larry’s ^ – solo
22 – Gainesville, Fla. @ High Dive ^ – solo
23 – Savannah, Ga. @ El Rocko ^ – solo
30 – Woodstock, N.Y. @ Colony % – solo
September
19 – Manchester, U.K. @ Manchester Gorilla *
20 – Glasgow, U.K. @ Saint Luke’s *
22 – Dublin, Ireland @ Tivoli Theatre *
24 – Leeds, U.K. @ Brudnell Social Club *
25 – Bristol, U.K. @ Trinity Arts Centre *
26 – London, U.K. @ O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire *
28 – Paris, France @ La Maroquinerie *
29 – Antwerp, Belgium @ TRIX
October
01 – Cologne, Germany @ Gebäude 9 *
02 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso Noord (Tolhuistuin) *
04 – Berlin, Germany @ Musik & Frieden *
05 – Vesterbro, Denmark @ Vega *
06 – Hamburg, Germany @ Uebel & Gefährlich *
(# = w/ Briana Marela)
(^ = w/ Katie von Schleicher)
(% = w/ Caroline Rose)
(* = w/ EERA)