Both tracks will appear on the singer-songwriter’s upcoming LP, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We
Mitski is back with two new songs, “Star” and “Heaven,” from her upcoming album, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, out Sept. 15 via Dead Oceans.
The two tunes are at once distinct yet complementary. “Star” offers a stunning atmospheric slow-burn, reaching a shimmering apex as Mitski sings, “That love’s gone/We just see it shining/We’ve traveled very far/I’ll keep a leftover light/Burning so you can keep looking up/Isn’t that worth holding on.”
“Heaven,” meanwhile, swings and sways like a vintage country ballad, though the pockets of orchestral pomp peppered throughout lead to a denouement steeped in something more classical. “Something set free is running through the night,” Mitski croons, “And the dark awaits us/All around the corner/But here in our place/ We have for the day/Can we stay a while and listen for heaven.”
“Star” and “Heaven” mark the second and third offerings from The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, following “But Like an Angel,” which arrived back in July. The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We marks MItski’s seventh album, following last year’s Laurel Hell. She made the new album with longtime producer Patrick Hyland, recording it at Nashville’s Bomb Shelter and Los Angeles’ Sunset Sound.
Mitski previously described The Land as her “most American album” in a press statement. Emphasizing the theme of love, she added, “The best thing I ever did in my life was to love people. I wish I could leave behind all the love I have, after I die, so that I can shine all this goodness, all this good love that I’ve created onto other people.”