Mitski’s new album ‘Laurel Hell’ was the biggest-selling record in America in its first week of release, new figures have confirmed.
The record, which was released on February 4, is currently at Number Five on the Billboard 200 chart, behind albums by Gunna, Yo Gotti and Morgan Wallen, as well as the Encanto soundtrack.
Although it didn’t hit the top spot on the chart, ‘Laurel Hell’ did score the highest pure sales numbers of the week, Billboard has confirmed. Of 36,000 album-equivalent units, 24,000 were sales – as opposed to units made up by streaming figures or purchases of individual tracks.
Of that number, 17,000 sales were on vinyl – giving Mitski the biggest sales week for vinyl since Adele’s ’30’ sold 35,000 copies in seven days last year.
In the UK, ‘Laurel Hell’ reached Number Six on the Official UK Albums Chart and Number Three on the Official UK Independent Albums Chart.
In a four-star review of the album, NME said: “With each record, Mitski’s sound has grown bigger and grander […] Much like ‘Be The Cowboy’ stand-out ‘Nobody’, ‘Laurel Hell’ often pairs darkness with strobing lights (see: ‘Should’ve Been Me’ and ‘Love Me More’). After exploring the isolation of feeling like a “nobody”, Mitski’s explorations of being somebody prove just as compelling.”
In a recent interview, Mitski said she felt “absolutely terrible” about returning to music. She previously announced an indefinite hiatus in 2019, before making her comeback last year with the single ‘Working For The Knife’.
“How does it feel to be releasing a record again? Terrible,” she told the BBC. “Absolutely terrible. It’s like, ‘Oh Jesus, here we go again. I thought I was having fun and now it’s no fun anymore’.”
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