Mitski’s “Stay Soft” video is a work of art

Mitski's new album Laurel Hell is out today, February 4, and to celebrate she has released a video for "Stay Soft." Check it out above.

Director Maegan Houang said in a statement: “This video is heavily inspired by Romanticism and paintings and artwork from the Victorian era. Like the lyrics of the song ‘Stay Soft,’ paintings from that era have a gentle quality, but they still evoke a certain feeling of unexplored darkness and danger. I want the audience to feel safe within this fabricated world and then realize that the character Mitski plays is being hunted.”

On "Stay Soft" itself, Mitski adds: “This song, frankly, is about hurt people finding each other, and using sex to make sense of their pain. This is by no means the correct way to cope with trauma, but it’s a thing people do regardless, and I always want to write songs about what we actually do, so that we don’t feel alone in them.”

Mitski will support Harry Styles when he plays a series of stadium shows across Europe this summer.