A star somehow still steadily on the rise, Mitski has captured the hearts of critics and the TikTok generation alike with her latest record, The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We. Tonight at the Usher Hall, in an entirely seated auditorium set up, we’ve been given our first clue that seeing this prolific songwriter perform isn’t merely a concert, but a piece of theatre. When the lights go down, Mitski’s silhouette appears against suspended fabric to the opening chords of ‘Everyone’ (from her 2022 album, Laurel Hell). What follows is nothing short of a visual spectacle.

Dressed in black and donning her signature knee pads and jazz shoes, Mitski performs intricate choreography (courtesy of Monica Mirabile) throughout every track, transforming into countless shapes and characters as she angelically sings through her rich discography. Her movement style oscillates between Fosse, balletic poses and Japanese Butoh, occasionally employing a microphone stand and two black chairs as props.

Further adding to the theatrics, instrumentalists surround a raised podium on which Mitski spends most of the performance. Directed by Patrick Hyland and complete with pedal steel, accordion, violin and percussion players, Mitski’s band vividly brings her music to life, leaning most heavily into the Americana soundscapes heard on The Land Is…

The sheer innovation and attention to detail paid to each production element is spectacular, especially in its interplay with Mitski’s lyrics. When performing her 2014 song ‘First Love/Late Spring’, she’s balancing on one leg on a chair as she says ‘I would jump off of this ledge I’m on’, while large shimmering shapes hanging from the ceiling around her during ‘Last Words Of A Shooting Star’ slowly retract on her command as she sings the word ‘goodbye’.

The lighting design is Mitski’s only companion on stage, soaking her in different hues and playing an unlikely antagonist in songs like ‘Heaven’, which sees her slow dancing with a beam of light, following it around the podium as it seems to take on a life of its own. ‘We dedicate our lives to bringing you this dream,’ she says when thanking her entire tour team, who apparently had overcome some technical difficulties earlier in the day. Sadly this was a reminder that it was time to wake up.

Mitski is on tour until Saturday 11 May; reviewed at Usher Hall, Edinburgh.