Single Review: “Where is My Phone?” by Mitski
by Rowyn Belt
Mitski's leading single for her new album Nothing’s About To Happen, released on January 16, titled Where’s My Phone? The song, eerie and strange like most of Mitski’s music, came with a horror music video that introduced fans to the artist’s latest ideas.
The last release we got from Mitski was in September of 2023, with The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We. This album, pulling her out of retirement from 2018’s Be the Cowboy, was a shift for her music. It gave her space to be her own, and to run with the ideas she had. However, after having heard nothing from her since 2018 and with all of her social media accounts being shut down in 2019 with an announcement of an indefinite hiatus, nobody was sure what this would mean for the artist. In 2022, she came out of her hiatus with her album Laurel Hell, and went on a massive tour. Since then, she’s been active - going on tours, releasing her album, and finally announcing her latest creation in January.
Where’s My Phone? opens with an immediate anxious-feeling set of instruments: drumkit, distorted guitars layered to create interesting textures, and a prevalent bass line. The vocals throughout the song display small imperfections, letting Mitski’s realness seep through the speakers. These slight dissonances with the “perfect world” the artist’s music lived in before are unsettling to a long-time fan, and she digs into the discomfort with odd lyrics throughout the song.
Lines like, “I just want my mind to be a clear glass, clear glass with nothing instead,” and “Where did I leave? Where’d I go? Where did it go? Where’s my phone?” make it clear to a listener the world that Mitski’s musical personification is living in. Her phone is her everything, referring to it as herself with the question “Where’d I go?” It’s clear that the obsession with the small screen is plaguing her mind, especially in the lyrics, “I’ll stay out until my mind is like a clear glass, clear glass with nothing going on- or like a bug floating in the melted amber of a citronella candle.” Staying within the horrors of the device truly fogs up the mind and makes it hard to escape, just like the bugs swimming through wax.
Not only do the lyrics lean into this hellscape, but so do the instrumentals. For the majority of the song, it’s a traditional alternative rock feel with interesting lyric choices. However, in the last 10 seconds, there’s a sudden time and instrumentation change. The whole song slows down and starts to sound more muddled before the ringing of guitar feedback starts. Coming after distorted vocals buried with layers of guitars and drums, the shift is unexpected and, honestly, a shock. The sudden change inspires a second listen, so you can find exactly when it happens and what it sounds like- a smart move on Mitski’s part for listener counts as well as for interest and enjoyment of the song itself.
Mitski blew us out of the water with this release, fully immersing her fans into the horrors of her newest project. Riddled with anxiety, Where’s My Phone? explores the brain fog given to us by our small screened devices, making us really think about our reliance on the pocket-sized rectangles. With an album coming before long, we can’t wait to hear how this fits with everything else.
