Mitski's latest album is called Be The Cowboy. "It's definitely not based on any real working cowboy," Mitski explains. "I'm talking the movie cowboy; the caricature of a cowboy; the Clint Eastwood cowboy; Marlboro-commercial cowboy. Just the idea of walking into a room like you own the place and maybe kind of being a lone figure."

It was a real-life instance of being a lone figure that led Mitski to pen Be The Cowboy's lead single, "Nobody." After touring in Australia and Asia, Mitski realized a flight back to the U.S. during the holidays would be too expensive, so she instead traveled to Malaysia for the end of December. "What happened was I was all alone in a country where no one knew me during the holidays when everyone I knew in my family was kind of together, and I just felt very desperately alone in a way I didn't expect because I thought I was a solitary person," Mitski recalls. "I didn't plan for loneliness at all. I didn't have any instruments but I wanted to write a song, so I walked to the nearest Toys R Us, I got a toy piano — it had about two octaves — and I wrote 'Nobody' on it to kind of dispel that feeling of loneliness."

Now, Mitski is far from being alone. The day after playing a sold-out show at First Avenue in Minneapolis, Mitski and her band stopped at The Current studio to play some songs and to talk with host Mac Wilson.

Playing First Avenue was special for Mitski. "Oh my gosh, I mean, just the history of the place," she enthuses. "Being onstage and knowing of all the other artists that I admire that played on that stage. Of course, there's Purple Rain. And I played 7th Street Entry a few times, and every time I would wonder what it [would be] like to be in the Mainroom, and then I was really in the Mainroom and once I played there, I understood why it was so special: just something about the energy in the room was just wonderful."

Use the audio player above to listen to the complete in-studio session.

Songs Performed

"Washing Machine Heart"
"A Pearl"
"Nobody"
All songs from Mitski's 2018 album Be The Cowboy, available on Dead Oceans.

Hosted by Mac Wilson
Produced by Derrick Stevens
Engineered by Michael DeMark
Visuals by Nate Ryan
Web feature by Luke Taylor

External Link

Mitski - official site

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