Mitski’s newest album is called The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We.

Mitski says love ties together the narratives on her new album. “Sometimes the love is not good for you, and sometimes it’s a respite from a dark situation.”

Ebru Yildiz/Courtesy of the artist

The title of Mitski’s newest album came to her as a joke sometime during the pandemic.

She imagined crossing state lines and seeing a welcome sign along the road. Instead of the usual slogans —like “The Land of 10,000 Lakes” or “The Constitution State” — the sign read “The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We.”

It was a joke with a kernel of truth. “It’s feeling really inhospitable in the United States right now,” she told NPR’s Morning Edition.

Mitski is revered by fans and fellow musicians. Iggy Pop once told BBC 6 she was “the most advanced American songwriter I know.”

Her lyrics have a literary quality. She may not have lived the stories in her songs, but her characters offer emotional truths. A problem drinker sees a bug at the bottom of a glass. A lover bends “like a willow” around their beloved. A narrator finds frost in an attic and remembers a late best friend.

Mitski calls The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, which was released last Friday, her most American album. And she spoke to Morning Edition about the new project.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can hear this conversation using the audio player at the top of the page.

Leila Fadel: What makes you want to inhabit all these different characters like that, in each of the songs that you sing?

Mitski: On one hand, most…