Mitski returns with new song, announces world tour
American indie rocker Mitski has returned with her first new music since 2018’s Be the Cowboy, the metallic and delicate ‘Working for the Knife’.
Co-produced by longtime musical partner Patrick Hyland, who’s been on board since 2014’s Bury Me At Makeout Creek, ‘Working for the Knife’ is eerie and noir-like, mixing tinkering percussion, plucky piano lines, and synthesisers that alternate between oppressive moody and expressively bright. The mix of light and dark has long been a Mitski speciality, and it’s comforting to hear that she’s lost none of that brilliant dichotomy in her brief time away.
“It’s about going from being a kid with a dream, to a grown up with a job, and feeling that somewhere along the way you got left behind,” Mitski said in a statement. “It’s being confronted with a world that doesn’t seem to recognize your humanity, and seeing no way out of it.”
‘Working for the Knife’ isn’t technically Mitski’s first new music in three years, as the artist contributed the song ‘Cop Car’ to the soundtrack for the 2020 film The Turning. She also provided the soundtracks for the graphic novel This Is Where We Fall, but that was released as a cassette/vinyl exclusive and has yet to appear on any streaming services.
Along with the new track, Mitski has also announced a return to the live stage with a tour that will take the artist across the US, UK, and Europe. Starting in Asheville, North Carolina in February, Mitski will spend the entirety of Spring 2022 winding her way through North America and Europe, with the tour coming to a close in Denmark in May.
Check out the video for ‘Working for the Knife’, plus Mitski’s 2022 tour dates, down below.
Mitski 2022 US and European tour dates:
- 02/17 Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
- 02/18 Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz
- 02/19 Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern
- 02/21 Birmingham, AL @ Iron City
- 02/22 New Orleans, LA @ Civic Theatre
- 02/24 Houston, TX @ The Lawn at White Oak Music Hall
- 02/25 Dallas, TX @ The Factory in Deep Ellum
- 02/26 Austin, TX @ ACL Live at Moody Theater
- 02/28 Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
- 03/03 Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Exposition Hall
- 03/04 Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
- 03/07 Portland, OR @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
- 03/09 Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre
- 03/12 Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
- 03/14 St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre
- 03/15 Milwaukee, WI @ The Riverside Theater
- 03/17 Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
- 03/18 Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
- 03/19 Montreal, QC @ St-Jean-Baptiste Church
- 03/21 Boston, MA @ TBD
- 03/24 New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
- 03/25 Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall
- 03/26 Washington, DC @ The Anthem
- 03/29 Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
- 03/30 Louisville, KY @ Old Forester’s Paristown Hall
- 03/31 Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
- 04/21 Bristol, UK @ Marble Factory
- 04/22 Leeds, UK @ University Stylus
- 04/23 Glasgow, UK @ Queen Margaret Union
- 04/25 Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street
- 04/26 Manchester, UK @ O2 Ritz
- 04/28 London, UK @ The Roundhouse
- 04/30 Brussels, BE @ Botanique
- 05/02 Tourcoing, FR @ Le Grand Mix
- 05/03 Paris, FR @ Le Cabaret Sauvage
- 05/04 Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
- 05/06 Zurich, CH @ Les Docks
- 05/07 Lausanne, CH @ Les Docks
- 05/09 Berlin, DE @ Metropol
- 05/10 Copenhagen, DK @ Vega
- 05/11 Stockholm, SE @ Nalen
- 05/12 Oslo, NO @ Rockefeller Music Hall
- 05/14 Hamburg, DE @ Fabrik
- 05/15 Cologne, DE @ Stollwerck
- 05/17 Vienna, AU @ WUK
- 05/18 Prague, CZ @ Rock Cafe
- 05/19 Munich, DE @ Strom
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