Retired from Sad, New Career in Business is the second studio album by American musician Mitski. Mitski self-released the project on August 1, 2013 while still a student studying at the Conservatory of Music at SUNY Purchase. The album was her senior project and featured a 60-piece student orchestra.[2] Every song on the album was accompanied by a music video, each video playing a part in an ongoing story,[3] and it is Mitski's only visual album. In summer 2020, the track "Strawberry Blond" gained a resurgence in popularity on the social media app TikTok, specifically in the cottagecore community.[4]
Retired from Sad, New Career in Business received praise for its blend of "out-of-the-norm orchestral sounds with electronics and 'found' sounds".[3] In a career retrospective following Mitski's 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".[5]
^In July 2022, the track listing on streaming services was revised to match the original Bandcamp version, with acoustic versions of Square and Shame omitted. These versions of the tracks are since unavailable on streaming services.[6]
