Mitski, the US’s best young songwriter: ‘I’m a black hole where people dump their feelings’

With songs about heartbreak and capitalism, the cult pop singer is on the brink of the mainstream – but the intensity of her fandom has her fearing for her safety

There is a jokey meme that captions a picture of Mitski with “Therapists HATE her”. Her songs can make you doubt what love, happiness and stability are even for. Over the course of six albums, the 31-year-old has become the US’s best young singer-songwriter, stating her feelings with dry amusement or real pain. Her songs are vignettes heavy with painterly symbolism. She connects squalling indie-rock to ambient ballads with plenty in between; her chords never resolve in the way you think they will, rather like life. Perhaps therapists hate her because she is putting them out of a job – as well as being troubling, her music is often uplifting, cathartic and compassionate.

It turns out she is in therapy herself. “I love therapy! Having someone to talk to, who you don’t feel like you’re burdening, because it’s their job – it really eases up all your friendships,” she says, laughing. “You’re saying it out loud, giving it words; it clears things up. In America, there’s still this notion that you’re not good until you’re happy. I hope we can get away from that.”