Retired from Sad, New Career in Business

Retired from Sad, New Career in Business is the second studio album by Japanese-American musician Mitski. Mitski self-released the project on August 1, 2013 while still a student at SUNY Purchase. The album was her senior project and featured a 60-piece student orchestra.[3] Every song on the album was accompanied by a music video, with each video playing a part in an ongoing story.[4] In the summer of 2020, album track "Strawberry Blond" gained a resurgence in popularity on the social media app TikTok, specifically in the cottagecore community.[5]

Retired from Sad, New Career in Business
Studio album by Mitski
Released	August 1, 2013
Genre	Freak folk experimental orchestral pop[1][2]
Length	23:54
Label	Self-released
Mitski chronology
Lush (2012) Retired from Sad, New Career in Business (2013) Bury Me at Makeout Creek (2014)

Critical reception

Retired from Sad, New Career in Business received praise for its blend of "out-of-the-norm orchestral sounds with electronics and 'found' sounds".[4] In a career retrospective following her 2018 studio album Be the Cowboy, Jesse Herb of Atwood Magazine said that the album "completely highlights Mitski’s writing growth in just one year, and also her impeccable composition" and that the album "could be in an off-broadway musical." Herb singled out "Shame", "Circle", and "Strawberry Blond" in particular, saying that the latter "feels like a lost Dar Williams record".[6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mitski.

Original Bandcamp version

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Goodbye, My Danish Sweetheart"	2:17
2.	"Square"	3:10
3.	"Strawberry Blond"	1:54
4.	"Humpty"	3:21
5.	"I Want You"	3:03
6.	"Shame"	2:24
7.	"Because Dreaming Costs Money, My Dear"	3:05
8.	"Circle"	2:51
9.	"Class of 2013"	1:49
Total length:		23:54

Re-release version[7]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Goodbye, My Danish Sweetheart"	2:17
2.	"Shame"	2:24
3.	"Because Dreaming Costs Money, My Dear"	3:05
4.	"Humpty"	3:21
5.	"Circle"	2:51
6.	"I Want You"	3:03
7.	"Square"	3:10
8.	"Strawberry Blond"	1:54
9.	"Class of 2013"	1:49
10.	"Square" (solo piano version)	3:10
11.	"Shame" (Jammin' Out Solo version)	2:33
Total length:		29:40

Personnel

Credits adapted from Bandcamp.[1]

• Mitski – songwriting, vocals, drums
• Trevor Fedele – recording engineer
• Patrick Hyland – recording engineer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer
• Will Prinzi – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass
• Mike Rasimas – drums
• Scott Interrante – orchestrations
• Sean Mcverry – gang vocals
• Eli Wolf-Christensen – gang vocals, mandolin
• Kenneth "Kenny" Trotter – violin
• Sarah Wolffe – violin
• Michael Mandrin – violin
• Sophie Dolamore – viola
• Naseer François Ashraf – viola
• Elise Linder – cello
• Pete Olynciw – upright bass
• Kevin Schmid – upright bass
• Julie Yeaeun Lee – flute
• Andrew Cowie – clarinet, bass clarinet
• John Cummings – trumpet
• Jerome Burns – trumpet, cornet
• Rich Liverano – trombone
• Cristian Uraga – french horn
• Pixel (as Trixie Doll) – cover model

References

1. "Retired from Sad, New Career in Business". Bandcamp. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
2. Sutliff, Amileah Sutliff (July 26, 2018). "A Mitski Primer". Vinyl Me, Please. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
3. "Mitski - Artist Biography & Discography". Allmusic. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
4. Interrante, Scott. "Mitski: "Retired from Sad, New Career in Business"". The Absolute Mag. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
5. Spellings, Sarah (August 12, 2020). "How Did This Dress Get So Popular in a Pandemic?". Vogue. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
6. Herb, Jesse. "FROM 'LUSH' TO 'BE THE COWBOY': ALONG FOR THE RIDE OF MITSKI'S EVOLUTION". Atwood Magazine. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
7. "Retired from Sad, New Career in Business". Spotify. Retrieved September 5, 2020.