Japanese-American singer and songwriter Mitski released her debut album Lush on January 31, 2012, which originated as a school project at SUNY Purchase (as was her sophomore album, Retired from Sad, New Career in Business).

The album consists of nine songs and has a run time of around 26 minutes. The nine tracks go through different paces and stylistic choices with abstract lyrics and instrumentals while remaining cohesive.

Lush covers a multitude of topics, but I personally see it as a recurring theme of beauty standards, relationships, and validation throughout society.

“Liquid Smooth” opens the release with an instrumental that aligns with the title, like piano, that pull you in throughout the progression of the track with a strong metaphor clear in the verse: “I’m beautiful; I know because it’s the season. But what am I to do with all this beauty? Biology, I am an organism, I’m chemical. That’s all, that is all.”

Lyrically, this song is really interesting and a strong opener. Mitski has many lines that intrigue you and may not hit you until a couple listens.

The lines in verse two, “I’m pulsing, my blood is red and unafraid of living—beginning to end,” and the bridge, “How I feel this river rushing through my veins—with nowhere else to go, it circles ’round,” are lines that I didn’t really appreciate until later in my knowledge of this track. These now stand out for me as they really fit the change in sound, supporting the lines and filling out the song.

Throughout this record, Mitski uses repetition to drive many aspects of the songs. “I’m liquid smooth; come touch me too; I’m at my highest peak; I’m ripe; about to fall; capture me; or at least take my picture” is a reoccurring lyric throughout the progression and is also the ending line.

“Abbey” is track three but already is such a standout to the track. While I praise this album for the use of instrumentals, production takes a different approach with this track, as it is almost purely vocal.

Mitski takes advantage of her voice and layers it in a way that replicates instruments. The actual instrumental doesn’t actually hit until verse two. The lyric “I was born waiting” is repeated numerous times and really expresses longing and wanting a purpose in life.

This song is a bit more ambiguous than the rest of the tracks and has more of an eerie sound compared to the others; however, I think the execution is done in a blended way, as the track doesn’t feel odd when listening to the full album.

Finally, “Brand New City” is my personal favorite. The emotion is so present throughout this song.

My favorite and most standout lyrics are “But if I gave up on being pretty, I wouldn’t know how to be alive” and “Think my fate is losing patience; I think the ground is pulling me down; I think my life is losing momentum; I think my ways are wearing me down.” This song, in my mind, perfectly represents the struggles of the theme.

While this album might not fit everyone’s taste, I highly suggest giving it a listen to hear the creativity and thought put behind it.

This album is so unique that I can’t think of a comparison that would genuinely convey the same emotions and production. Overall, I give this album a 9/10.