The artists who inspired Mitski to greatness

Mitski - All Points East 2024 - London - Victoria Park

(Credits: All Pontos Leste / JRCMCCORD)

Sun 20 Oct 2024, 9:30 pm, UK

No one understands the fleeting magic of creating an album more than Mitski. It’s her world, but the most interesting part of the process comes after launch, when her art is available for everyone to enjoy. As she once said, “It doesn’t matter (what people think). When you listen to an album, it’s yours. It’s not the artist’s anymore, so you can do whatever you want with it.”

Mitski isn’t as new to the scene as she may seem, but her consistent efforts have established her as one of the most captivating artists of the modern generation. Singing most of her hits with a soft, melancholy vocal, Mitski single-handedly reestablished the power of female-specific experiences in indie rock, inspiring countless others to follow in her footsteps.

Despite her newfound Tiktokification, ‘My Love Is All Mine all Mine’ is a good summary of Mitski’s evolving talent, encompassing all aspects of her vision with haunting vocals, heartfelt lyrics and ambient arrangements, proving that subtlety many Sometimes it says much more than extravagance. “Moon, tell me if I could
Send my heart to you? She sings in the song: “So when I die, what should I do / Could I shine here with you?”

Although not all of her songs embody the same delicacy, there is always an atmosphere of intimacy in everything she does, underlined by an intriguing uniqueness that is not always easy to identify. In the early days, Mitski looked up to innovators like St Vincent, caught by the glimpse of the prospect of following their path just as she did and just as David Bowie and countless others did before her.

Her desire to follow her heart and break the mold led her to discover other game changers like Björk, MIA, and even the heartfelt statements of Jeff Buckley, who provided guidance during a time when she wasn’t fully convinced of her own artistic abilities. All she knew was that she didn’t want to become a carbon copy of anyone else, which led her to turn down opportunities and songs others wrote to pursue her own writing, whatever that may be.

In the face of uncertainty, Björk, MIA and Buckley were just a few names that inspired her to pursue individuality, knowing that everything she had to offer would eventually fall into the hands of the right people. In his opinion, these were the musicians who were living proof that “you can do whatever you want – it doesn’t have to be this pop formula, and you don’t have to have this voice or look this way”.

Of course, one of Mistki’s most prominent influences, Ringo Sheena, also showed him the way as a solo artist who knew how to utilize “attention to detail” to create perfect textures, proving the value of closing oneself off to the demands of external forces. and focusing only on the musical avenues she wanted to explore on her own.

Buckley’s warm, comforting tones can be heard on many of his records, but his adoration for Björk potentially stands out as one of his most significant favorites, especially since Mitski’s music rarely crosses over into such overt experimentalism, but rather draws on in certain aspects of the singer’s art to keep her own sound fresh and unpredictable.

Furthermore, Mitski’s influences are expansive, but indicate an artist with a fully formed vision of music that still sounds and feels entirely his own. It’s often easy to hear other people’s voices in a musician’s music, but Mitski’s influences are subtle, proving that even those whose artistic talent has become an ingrained part of their craft often stay in the background, looking at the surface. in more organic ways.