We don’t typically look to pop albums to answer our cultural moment, let alone to meet the soul hunger left in the wake of global catastrophe. Pop songs are meant to distract us with reductive parables of love and fame, heroism and villainy. But occasionally, an artist proves the form more malleable and capacious than we knew. With Laurel Hell, Mitski cements her reputation as an artist in possession of such power — capable of using her talent to perform the alchemy that turns our most savage and alienated experiences into the very elixir that cures them. “I wrote what I needed to hear,” Mitski explains. “As I’ve always done.” Tracklist: 1. Valentine, Texas 2. Working for the Knife 3. Stay Soft 4. Everyone 5. Heat Lightning 6. The Only Heartbreaker 7. Love Me More 8. There’s Nothing Left For You 9. Should’ve Been Me 10. I Guess 11. That’s Our Lamp