Mitski has really blown up this year behind her latest album, Puberty 2. She should have blown up on the strength of her prior album, bury me at make out creek (which in my opinion, is a lot better than Puberty 2), but that’s neither here nor there. Quibbles and album rankings aside, “Your Best American Girl” from Puberty 2 is a great song, and worthy of all the laudations that have been heaped upon it. Now, for reasons that are implacable, the song has been chopped and screwed, and it is in equal parts fascinating and amazing.
Mainly reserved for hip hop and R&B, it’s a pretty uncommon occurrence for an indie song such as “Your Best American Girl” to be given the DJ Screw treatment, which is to say that it has been really slowed down and cut. This completely changes the feel and atmosphere of the song. In her case, it works wonders.
At first, it just feels a little weird, because you hear Mitski’s voice slowed down and it sounds strange and more masculine. It just seems like a gimmick. Then, the instrumentation starts to pick up. By the time Mitski gets to the chorus, and the guitar really kicks in, it sounds amazing. It’s probably unfair to Mitski to say that it sounds better than the original, but if you want to make that argument, nobody should fight you on it.
If you are into Mitski at all, or even if you just want to hear how amazing an indie rock song can sound really slowed down, do yourself the favor of listening up top.
(Via Stereogum)
