How to get into: Mitski

Mitski Miyawaki, known professionally as Mitski, is a Japanese-American singer-songwriter. She self-released her first two albums, Lush, and Retired from Sad.

Mitski first started to gain traction after her song titled ‘Washing Machine Heart’ started to trend for its unique beats paired with its atmosphere which gave the music industry a new lens on how to compose music. The song also utilises lyrics that the highly marginalised and ‘hopeless romantics’ can relate to with the lyrics “Why not me?” then follows it with the musical syllables “Do Mi TI” making the song sound catchy and unforgettable.

Mitski wrote the track to symbolise how she felt whilst she lived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia because she knew no one in the city and would open the window and listen to the sounds of the city to feel less lonely

Another song of Mitski that enhanced her success in the music industry, titled ‘Nobody’ which gained heavy traction from TikTok during 2020. The song was a part of the Be The Cowboy album which included songs such as ‘Washing Machine Heart’.

The song ‘Nobody’ trended in 2020 for various reasons. To begin with, while people were experiencing lockdown due to the pandemic, most people felt alone even when surrounded by family members. The song was able to closely relate to that feeling with the lyrics “My God, I’m so lonely, so I open the window to hear sounds of people”. Interestingly, Mitski wrote the track to symbolise how she felt whilst she lived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia because she knew no one in the city and would open the window and listen to the sounds of the city to feel less lonely.

The song also had the lyrics “Nobody, nobody, nobody” which many users on TikTok used during the pandemic to describe how their cities became after lockdown. This was the first time Mitski gained heavy traction from social media.

New listeners of Mitski also had their attention drawn to the themes of vulnerability and the complexities of human relations

Fast Forward to May of 2021, ‘Washing Machine Heart’ starts to trend on TikTok due to the lyrics “I know who you pretend I am” connecting with those wishing to express their emotions regarding unrequited love. By the end of May, the trend had resulted in Mitski’s streams for ‘Washing Machine Heart’ on Spotify increasing by almost 300,000. The trend also sparked discussions about the lyrical depth behind Mitski’s music as there was more to discover each time you listened to the same song.

New listeners of Mitski also had their attention drawn to the themes of vulnerability and the complexities of human relations. Relating these themes to their own lives – they fell in love with Mitski’s music. Overall May 2021 played a pivotal role in shaping the popularity of Mitski.

The song’s calm and comforting lyrics made the listener feel as if they were being hugged, which was loved by many all across the globe

The song that made Mitski reach an all time high ‘My Love Mine All Mine’ from the album The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We. The song gained traction on TikTok, Instagram, and Spotify. The song was trending to the point it had accumulated over a billion streams on Spotify within the first year of release, illustrating how it was loved by not just Mitski Fans but even by casual listeners. The song’s calm and comforting lyrics made the listener feel as if they were being hugged, which was loved by many all across the globe. The song was also the first time Mitski made it to the ‘Billboard Hot 100’, debuting at number 76 and peaking at number 26. In the UK, it reached number 8 on the Official Singles Chart. The song’s poignant lyrics and haunting melody resonated with a global audience, leading to its viral success on TikTok, where it has now been used in over 2.4 million TikTok videos.​

Mitski’s knack for nostalgia shines in tracks like “First Love / Late Spring,” where church-organ–style synths mingle with digital beats, electric guitar, and Japanese lines (“Mune ga hachikire-sōde,” translating roughly to “my chest is about to burst”). This blend of indie, rock, and personal language illustrates her lyrical intelligence and makes the song endlessly replayable.

Though her music doesn’t always trend for the reasons she intended, Mitski’s distinctive instrumentation paired with her evocative, intimate lyrics has cemented her status as one of the most compelling artists of her generation.