Lush (Mitski album)

Lush is the debut studio album by American musician Mitski.^[1] Mitski self-released the album on January 31, 2012, as her junior year project at SUNY Purchase's Conservatory of Music. It was recorded and mixed by Scot Moriarty.^[2]

Lush
Studio album by Mitski
Released	January 31, 2012 (2012-01-31)
Genre	Chamber pop
Length	26:01
Label	Self-released
Producer	Scot Moriarty
Mitski chronology
Lush (2012) Retired from Sad, New Career in Business (2013)

Background

Mitski described the album as by "someone who simply wrote her feelings and didn't think about how her narrative was being conveyed", describing a version of herself that is "long gone now". Patrick Hyland, producer of all of Mitski's subsequent albums, described the album with the quote: "Lush was in college, like, 'Oh, my gosh, there are studios! There are other instrumentalists!"^[3]

The album is primarily chamber pop, with elements of lo-fi and punk rock.^[4] Lush has been described as "mournful" by Rolling Stone.^[5] It is "her most piano-laden work," characterized by Nylon as "a series of vivid, smooth, and unraveling narratives."^[6]

Critical reception

In a career retrospective following her 2018 studio album Be the Cowboy, Jesse Herb of Atwood Magazine said that the album "plays out like a beautiful stream of consciousness" and praised Mitski's poetic lyricism.^[7]

Track listing

Original Bandcamp version/re-release version^[8][9]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Liquid Smooth"	2:49
2.	"Eric"	3:17
3.	"Brand New City"	2:12
4.	"Real Men"	2:41
5.	"Wife"	2:39
6.	"Abbey"	2:46
7.	"Bag of Bones"	4:36
8.	"Door"	2:12
9.	"Pearl Diver"	2:44
Total length:		26:01

All tracks are written by Mitski.

Current Bandcamp version^[10]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Liquid Smooth"	2:49
2.	"Wife"	2:39
3.	"Abbey"	2:49
4.	"Brand New City"	2:12
5.	"Eric"	3:17
6.	"Bag of Bones"	4:36
7.	"Door"	2:12
8.	"Pearl Diver"	2:44
Total length:		23:15

In July 2022, the track listing on streaming services was modified to match the current Bandcamp version, with "Real Men" moved to the end of the album.^[11] Sometime in late 2012 – early 2013, "Real Men" was removed from the Bandcamp tracklist and the tracklist was re-arranged.^{[citation needed]}