Some may find her demeanour a little standoffish, but Mitski makes some of the most interesting, sophisticated pop music around.
This gives her music a capricious, unsettled quality, and is the same thing you hear in, for instance, Bowie’s most interesting work. At the first Glastonbury to host a 50/50 split of male and female artists, it is Mitski’s music that stands out as some of the most engaging. It’s here that Mitski starts to break out some of the poised – occasionally louche – dance moves that have become a signature of her live performances.
Mitski made her Glastonbury debut with a spellbinding set on the Park Stage on Saturday night (June 25) to a hypnotised crowd.
Disco single ‘The Only Heartbreaker’ is euphoric, an enormous sing- and dance-along where everyone is on the same page, while ‘Should’ve Been Me’, usually bittersweet but playful, is given a sharper edge too. There is a sense of relief watching Mitski perform on the Park Stage at Glastonbury, where she’s making her festival debut after coming extremely close to giving up on music altogether in 2018. At Glastonbury it feels surprisingly intimate – calm, in the sense of simply not being worrying, focused, grateful.