Mitski releases her sixth album, Laurel Hell, on February 4, 2022, via Dead Oceans. It is her first album of new material since 2018's Be the Cowboy and arrives after a break from touring.

The album has 11 tracks and trades some of the raw guitar of her early work for 1980s synthesizers, programmed beats and arena-sized choruses. The lyrics deal with her troubled relationship with fame, labor and her own career.

Working for the Knife and The Only Heartbreaker opened the rollout. Laurel Hell was received as a transitional record, more restrained and introspective, but still defined by Mitski's voice and writing.