Puberty 2 is the fourth studio album by Japanese-American indie rock musician Mitski, released on June 17, 2016, through Dead Oceans. Puberty 2 was released to widespread acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 87, based on 22 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Critics praised the album's more restrained and nuanced emotional trajectory, as well as its complex lyrical themes, which include longing, love, depression, alienation, and racial identity. Laura Snapes of NPR commented on the album's subtlety, writing that Puberty 2 "is a strike against the happy/sad poles that govern our lives."