Mitski is Working for the Knife Once Again

By TJ Grant and Kate Mettetal

In early-June of 2019, Mitski announced that her Sept. 7 performance in Central Park would be her “last show indefinitely”. Soon after, she deleted her social media accounts –  going incognito — as the world transcended into the darkness of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Eventually, the initial sadness and grief passed and her fans, once again, were filled with joy and anticipation.  

 On October 4th, her Instagram account — now run by her management —posted a black silhouette of the artist in a cowboy hat and black leather pants, alongside “October 5th, 2021. 10 a.m. ET”. Over the past day, there has been promotion of her upcoming tour (the venue for her Boston show is still to be determined, but she is playing March 21st) The North American tour presale begins tomorrow at 10 am, and tickets for all of her shows are on Friday.

At 10 am yesterday morning, the world had their first glimpse at a blurry outlining of our collective obsession and mysterious matriarchy herself in over two years. Sounds of cityscapes and opening elevator doors draw us into her own individual world — coming  to a swift halt as fuzzy synths and off-kilter piano fill our hearts and minds with her new single, “Working for the Knife” . 

“I used to think I’d be done at 20,” Mitski sings. “But now at 29 I feel just the same.”

It seems as though Mitski has new perceptions of where she is as an artist and a human being. Perhaps the knife is a metaphor for the music industry as a whole and her relationship to it.

“Maybe at 30, I’ll see a way to change,” she sings over squealing horns and punchy drums. 

As the spotlight dodges all around her, Mitski begins some kind of revolt against the stage that provided her with an outlet during her coming-of-age. The thing that is responsible for her fame and notoriety is being abused and tormented by her fists and body. It doesn’t get much clearer than that. She is working for the knife. 

In less than a day, Mitski’s “Working for the Knife” has earned a second spot on YouTube’s “trending” with over 174,000 views as the world awaits what will come next.