"Happy" | ||||
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Single by Mitski | ||||
from the album Puberty 2 | ||||
Released | May 3, 2016 | |||
Studio | Acme, Westchester, New York | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:40 | |||
Label | Dead Oceans | |||
Songwriter(s) | Mitski | |||
Producer(s) | Patrick Hyland | |||
Mitski singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Happy" on YouTube |
"Happy" is a song by American singer Mitski, released in 2016 as the second single from her fourth studio album, Puberty 2 . [1] [2] A music video for the song was released on May 23 that year, [3] [4] which Paste described as "chilling", [5] while Vice called it "anything but happy". [6]
Stereogum wrote "Sonically, the song follows an opposite trajectory, building from eerie metallic clattering and mournful whispers to an exultant explosion of guitar and saxophone. By the end, though, the excitement has died down and the eerie clattering returns, as it always does." [7]
About the song, Mitski said "Happiness fucks you. Once it's in your hands, you try to hold onto it, but the nature of happiness is that it passes through and eventually leaves, and something else—sadness, anger, a low after the high—has to follow. This song is about this exhaustive and exhausting cycle, and how sometimes one would rather not have any of it at all than be constantly thrown about by the waves of these fleeting states." [8] [9]
DIY wrote that the song is about "what happens once happiness has fled the scene; the tidying up, sadness, and exhausting anger that lives and thrives on the flip-side." [10]
Pitchfork wrote that "Happy" might be one of Mitski's bleakest songs yet, and further wrote "Mitski resists psychic death by constantly pushing forth into bolder textures, refusing to be meek and sedated even as joy feels compromised: a stubborn drum machine begets chuntering percussion, the tentative melody finds its feet, and brash saxophones push everything up a gear." [11]
AllMusic considered the song to be one of the highlights from Puberty 2, writing that it's "full of bite and irony as she describes a hook-up and his stealthy exit in a context of grooving rhythms, a catchy melody, and poppy saxophone solos. Through it all in the background -- though it's brought to the fore in the intro and outro -- is the relentless pounding of a drum." [12]
Yume no Uta/futari de...(夢のうた/ふたりで... / Dream Song/us two...) is singer-songwriter Koda Kumi's 33rd single under the Rhythm Zone label, and is her second attempt at a double a-side. The single charted at No. 1 on Oricon and stayed on the charts for sixteen weeks, out-selling her previous single, 4 Hot Wave. This made her first No. 1 single since feel. The single came in CD and CD+DVD and both a-sides have their unique cover art.
"Hey QT" is the only single by the one-off music project QT. The project consisted of American performance artist Hayden Dunham, English producers A. G. Cook and Sophie, and British singer Harriet Pittard. The song was released on 26 August 2014 via XL Recordings. The single's release was accompanied by a photo of QT with a blonde wig trimmed into a messy bob cut. The promotional image was made by Diamond Wright, a team that includes PC Music musician Hannah Diamond.
Mitsuki Miyawaki, known professionally as Mitski, is an American singer and songwriter. She self-released her first two albums, Lush (2012), and Retired from Sad, New Career in Business (2013), while studying studio composition at Purchase College's Conservatory of Music. The albums were originally made as her senior project. Her third studio album, Bury Me at Makeout Creek, was released in 2014 on the label Double Double Whammy.
The Colour in Anything is the third studio album by English singer-songwriter and producer James Blake. It was released on 6 May 2016, by Polydor Records. It serves as the follow-up to his Mercury Prize-winning 2013 album Overgrown. It features contributions from Justin Vernon and Frank Ocean, and additional production work by Rick Rubin.
Puberty 2 is the fourth studio album by American indie pop singer-songwriter Mitski, released on June 17, 2016, the first release through Dead Oceans. It was produced by longtime collaborator Patrick Hyland. Upon its release, Puberty 2 received widespread acclaim from music critics, with many praising Mitski's emotional delivery and lyrically complex themes, which include longing, love, depression, alienation and racial identity. The album was preceded by the lead single "Your Best American Girl" on March 1, 2016, alongside the announcement of the album, and the second single "Happy" on May 3, 2016. A music video for "A Burning Hill" was released on October 11, 2016, followed by a tour covering North American and Europe.
A Crow Looked at Me is the eighth studio album by Mount Eerie, a solo project of the American musician Phil Elverum. Released in 2017, it was composed in the aftermath of his 35-year-old wife Geneviève Castrée's diagnosis with pancreatic cancer in 2015, and her death in July 2016. Elverum wrote and recorded the songs over a six-week period in the room where she died, mostly using her instruments. His sparse lyrics and minimalistic musical accompaniment drew influence from a broad range of artists, including the poet Gary Snyder, author Karl Ove Knausgård and songwriter Julie Doiron.
"Your Best American Girl" is a song by American singer Mitski, from her fourth studio album, Puberty 2 (2016). The song was released on March 1, 2016, as the lead single from the album. It was written by Mitski and produced by Patrick Hyland.
"Without Love" is a song by the Canadian singer-songwriter Alice Glass. It was written by Glass, Lars Stalfors and Jupiter Keyes, and produced by the latter two and Matt Rad. The song was released by Loma Vista Recordings on 10 August 2017, as the lead single from Glass' self-titled debut EP.
Bury Me at Makeout Creek is the third studio album by American indie rock musician Mitski, released through Double Double Whammy on November 11, 2014. The album was written entirely by Mitski, with production handled by Patrick Hyland, who also produced her previous record, Retired from Sad, New Career in Business (2013).
Be the Cowboy is the fifth studio album by American indie rock musician Mitski, released on August 17, 2018, through Dead Oceans. Produced by longtime collaborator Patrick Hyland, the album widens Mitski's palette with a return to the piano featured on her first two records alongside synthesizers, horns and the guitar that became her signature instrument. Upon its release, Be the Cowboy received widespread acclaim from music critics, who later ranked it among the best albums of 2018. It was preceded by the singles "Geyser", "Nobody", and "Two Slow Dancers". Be the Cowboy was Mitski's first album to chart on the Billboard 200, and also entered the charts in Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
"Geyser" is a song by American singer Mitski, released on May 14, 2018, as the lead single from her fifth studio album, Be the Cowboy. She performed the song on The Daily Show in September 2018.
"Nobody" is a song by American singer Mitski, released in 2018 as the second single from her fifth studio album, Be the Cowboy. The song was lauded upon its release, with praise going toward's Mitski's lyricism and vocal performance, as well as the production.
Cape God is the second studio album by Canadian singer Allie X. It was released on February 21, 2020 by Twin Music and distributed by AWAL. The release followed her extended play Super Sunset (2018). The album was primarily written by Allie X and James Alan Ghaleb, and produced by Oscar Görres. It received generally positive reviews from music critics.
"Cry" is a song by American singer and rapper Ashnikko featuring vocals from Canadian singer-songwriter Grimes. It was released on June 17, 2020 through Parlophone Records as the lead single from Ashnikko's debut mixtape, Demidevil. It was produced by Ebenezer and written by Ashnikko, Grimes, Ebenezer, and Faangs. A nu metal, rap rock, and hyperpop track, its lyrics are dedicated to Ashnikko's ex-best friend who had sex with her ex-boyfriend.
American recording artist Mitski has released seven studio albums, three extended plays, and 23 singles. Mitski's sixth studio album, Laurel Hell, proved to be her most successful album to date, peaking at number 5 on the US Billboard 200. She would follow up with her seventh studio album, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, which included her most commercially successful single, "My Love Mine All Mine".
"Washing Machine Heart" is a song by American singer Mitski, released in 2018 on her album Be the Cowboy. Although not released as a single, it is one of her most famous songs. The song peaked at number 93 on the Irish Singles Chart as well as number 26 on the UK Indie charts. The A.V. Club write Katie Rife described "Washing Machine Heart" as a "deranged domestic ballad with a pleasantly disorienting beat". A slowed-down and sped up version of the song has become popular on the social media app TikTok for its use in animated remakes of famous airplane crashes.
"Working for the Knife" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mitski. It was released on October 5, 2021, through Dead Oceans, making it her first major release since her hiatus following the release of her 2018 studio album Be the Cowboy, and her subsequent tour in 2019. Written by Mitski and produced by her longtime collaborator Patrick Hyland, it is a dark, midtempo rock, and electro-industrial song led by synths and percussion. Lyrically, it revolves around "the knife", a metaphor for the expectations placed on Mitski to continue laboring over her music.
"The Only Heartbreaker" is a song by American singer Mitski, released on November 9, 2021 as the second single from her sixth studio album, Laurel Hell. The song was written by Mitski and Dan Wilson. The single became Mitski's first to reach number 1 on the charts, reaching that spot on the US AAA chart.
Laurel Hell is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Mitski, released on February 4, 2022, through Dead Oceans. Patrick Hyland produced the album, which has been characterized as a record blending synth-pop, indie pop and electronic rock styles. According to Mitski, the album title is a folk term for being trapped in thickets of laurel that grow in the southern Appalachian Mountains.
The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Mitski, released on September 15, 2023, through Dead Oceans. Produced by Patrick Hyland, it was recorded at the Bomb Shelter studio in Nashville and Sunset Sound in Los Angeles. The album was promoted by the release of the singles "Bug Like an Angel", "Star" / "Heaven" and "My Love Mine All Mine" through July to October 2023, the last being one of Mitski's most successful songs to date. The Land Is Inhospitable was received with universal praise by critics, who focused on the emotional rawness of Mitski's lyrics as well as the stripped-down nature of the music.