Surprising fans after almost three long years without new music and a total social media blackout, singer-songwriter Mitski dropped single, “Working for the Knife,” on Oct. 5. 

The previous day Mitski posted teasers on her once-vacant social media to a new song that would only drop in less  than 24 hours, barely giving fans time to process such exciting news of her long-awaited and uncertain return.

An energetic, yet subtly menacing tune of synths and guitar is followed by lyrics Mitski describes herself as “going from being a kid with a dream to a grown-up with a job and feeling that somewhere along the way you got left behind.” 

Mitski is the lone star of the video, adorned in a cowboy hat—a nod to a metaphor from her previous album, “Be the Cowboy.” She returns to the spotlight, reluctantly in a vacant theater. She sings, “I used to think I would tell stories / But nobody cared for the stories / I had about / No good guys.”

The song itself is a self-nod to her own artistry, a confession set to a mid-tempo beat. “I used to think I’d be done by 20 / Now at 29, the road ahead appears the same,” she admits in her lyrics. 

The song was written by Mitski with the return of Patrick Hyland as producer. In addition to the surprise drop of the song, Mitski announced tour dates for 2022, the first tour of hers since her final show in Central Park in September of 2019. She’s set to play over 50 shows across North America and Europe, including in Austin at Austin City Limits Live at Moody Theatre on Feb. 26. 

Tickets go on sale Oct. 8 at 11 a.m CST.