Retired from Sad, New Career in Business is an album from the artist Mitski. It is her second album, and its main purpose was to serve as her senior project for the State University of New York(Miyawaki). Mitski mainly makes indie music and this album is no exception. The main focus of the album tends to be on relationships with other people, like romantic partners, crushes, and even her mom. Throughout this album Mitski is mostly soft-spoken with sudden volume and emotion changes in certain songs. When judging this album, the main things to look at are how strong and meaningful the lyrics are, how the songs sound and flow together, and how well the album sticks to a clear theme. Based on those criteria, and from my experience listening to this album and her other songs, it’s clear that Retired from Sad, New Career in Business ranks among the top of Mitski's albums.

To initiate on why this is one of Mitski’s best albums we can begin by analyzing the lyrics. The overall focus in this album is Mitski’s relationship with other people. Mitski uses meaningful lyrics when speaking about her love life and the way she sees herself. For example, in “Goodbye, My Danish Sweetheart” she sings, “There’s nobody better than you,” which shows how hard she clings to this person even though the relationship clearly hurts her (Miyawaki). A lot of the song is her going back and forth between knowing she isn’t “the girl [she] ought to be” and still wanting this person to remember the good parts of her (Miyawaki). That kind of thinking feels really relatable, especially for young people who are still figuring themselves out in relationships.

Mitski also provides a very smooth voice and tone on these songs. Even when the lyrics are heavy, her voice doesn’t sound dramatic in a fake way; it’s calm but still full of feelings. In “Circle”, she talks about lying, guilt, and a relationship that has gone wrong. At one point she says “my lover is buried underground,” which sounds dramatic but also feels like a metaphor for a relationship that’s dead but still stuck in your head (Miyawaki). Mitski also uses very passionate and emotional words to explain her relationships. She doesn’t just say “I’m sad” or “I’m happy,” she builds little stories inside each song so we can picture what’s going on.

Not only are these lyrics very passionate but they are meaningful and relatable. “Class of 2013”, which is the last track, switches the focus to her mom. Mitski sings, “Mom, I’m tired, can I sleep…” and then eventually asks if she can stay for “a year or two” (Miyawaki). It sounds almost childish at first, but it shows the fear of growing up and having to pay for your own life. This verse sticks out to me because I can personally connect with it, and I’m sure other indie listeners and even stressed-out students can relate to it as well. Some critics might say that the lyrics seem confusing or irrelevant sometimes because she uses images like eggshells, bathtubs, and snow instead of just saying how she feels. However, this happens because Mitski uses metaphors to add more personality and life to her music. If you’re willing to listen more than once, the lines start to make sense in your own way.

Critics may also criticize the length and flow between the songs. Some people say that the album contains songs that are less than 1.5 minutes long and that “Shame”, the sixth song in the album, is mainly instruments with very few lyrics. While this is technically true, this is only one extreme part of the album. The whole track list contains nine songs and most of them are around two and a half to three minutes long (Miyawaki).  The shorter songs work more like emotional snapshots than full “radio songs.”

“Shame” may contain a very limited amount of lyrics and mainly have instrumentation, but it's just part of Mitski’s way of pushing the message and theme of the whole album. The few lyrics we do get repeat how “it feels so good” over and over, while the strings and background sounds get more intense (Miyawaki). This song explores the messy, almost guilty feeling of lust and wanting someone, which isn’t as typical in softer indie songs. The instruments do most of the talking for her, which some listeners might find weird, but it fits the idea of the album being theatrical and dramatic at times.

To build on this, some critics might argue that the album doesn’t flow perfectly because some songs jump from orchestra-heavy and dramatic to quiet piano or acoustic guitar. However, I think this variety is actually one of the strengths of the album. For example, going from a more intense track like “Humpty”, which is full of strings and big emotion, into something like “Circle” or “Class of 2013” gives your brain a moment to slow down and really listen to the lyrics. The shifts in sound mirror the ups and downs of relationships and growing up. It might not be as “smooth” as a pop album where everything sounds the same, but that’s also what makes it more honest and interesting.

Other critiques focus on the transition between “Square” into “Strawberry Blond”. Some listeners say that “Square” feels like a whole emotional arc, and then “Strawberry Blond” suddenly sounds brighter and more cheerful, so it feels like an awkward jump. Even though that complaint makes sense if you only pay attention to the sound, I think the transition actually reflects Mitski’s crush and how fast feelings can flip. In “Square” she mentions trying her best to fit into someone else’s life, eating like his girlfriend, and still feeling like she doesn’t belong. Then in “Strawberry Blond”, she is talking about a person she loves from a distance, watching him reach his arm out the car window and imagining “a life in [his] shape” (Miyawaki). Even though the tone is lighter, there’s still an ache in the song. So the contrast between the songs isn’t random; it shows how someone can move from quiet desperation into a kind of hopeful, painful crush feeling. 

As briefly mentioned previously, the whole album follows a very similar theme. The focus of the album is centered around Mitski’s relationship with other people. When most people listen to an album as a whole, they usually want to listen to have a clear emotional focus. Listening to an album that goes from a super hype party track to a random sad piano ballad back and forth isn’t very pleasing--at least to me. Mitski tends to do a fantastic job keeping a set focus among her albums. In an article about one of her later albums, Cat Zhang from Pitchfork mentions that Mitski's songs often fall under the same emotional umbrella and describes that album as “warmer, quieter, and more organic-sounding” where Mitski finally has “space  to breathe” (Zhang). Even though Zhang is talking about The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, I think this idea also applies to Retired from Sad, New Career in Business. Mitski likes to build albums where everything feels connected, instead of just throwing songs together.

Retired From Sad, New Career in Business is no exception. In every song she makes sure to keep the focus on her relationship with other people, whether it’s her mother, a significant other, or a crush. The whole album flows from post-breakup emotions, to crush feelings, to more intense desire, and finally fear of adulthood and wanting comfort from her mom. While the focus does vary slightly from song to song, the overall theme of being about relationships with other people is still there. Because of this, the album feels more like one complete story instead of a random playlist.