Be The Cowboy CD

Japanese-American indie-rocker Mitski was once a cult favourite, but in recent times her audience has grown exponentially, helped by the critical praise heaped on her fourth album, 2016's Puberty 2. Two years on, Be The Cowboy arrives amongst a blizzard of publicity and many more positive reviews. It's certainly a hugely impressive set, with each of the 14 songs dealing with romantic and interpersonal relationships in some way. There's much heartache, of course, expressed both lyrically and in Mitski's distinctive, emotion-rich vocal delivery. Musically, the album never sits still, either, darting between grandiose slabs of poignant moodiness and the kind of jaunty, disco-tinged goodtime grooves that belie their melancholic inspirations.