Mitski yields to the elements on “Heat Lightning”
The new track comes with an animated lyric video by Alex Moy.
Mitski has shared a new song called "Heat Lightning," the third single from her forthcoming album, Laurel Hell, out February 4, 2022 on Dead Oceans. The track comes with a surrealist, animated lyric video by Alex Moy.
In early October, Mitski announced her new album with "Working for the Knife," a country-tinged ballad of self-loathing. And last month, she shared its second single, The Only Heartbreaker," an upbeat synth track straight from the '80s. Every stop on her upcoming North American tour, which starts February 17 and runs through the end of March, is already sold out, and tickets remain for only two dates — one in Paris and one in Zurich — of the European tour that follows.
On "Heat Lightning," Mitski discusses interpersonal relationships as if they were weather events beyond her control. "And there’s nothing I can do / Not much I can change / Can I give it up to you / I hope that's OK," she sings, seeking approval from a friend or romantic partner who sounds more like a higher power.
"I needed songs that could help me forgive both others and myself," she said in a statement. "I needed to create this space mostly for myself where I sat in that gray area.”
In Moy's lyric video, tornados whisk up furniture, clouds race across the sky, and mountains are formed, then washed away. Watch it below, and pre-order Laurel Hell on Secretly.