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Bounder, raconteur, psychedelic adventurer, occasional philosopher, incorrigible berk: Father John Misty is a complicated bunch of guys.
His new album follows in the footsteps of those quotable rogues who’ve come before him: louche LA burnouts like Loudon Wainwright III, Toronto lothario Leonard Cohen and literary New York perv Alexander Portnoy. ‘Father John’ himself may be merely a character created by former Fleet Foxes drummer Josh Tillman, but he is never less than fascinating.
He certainly cuts a striking figure - combing Ritchie Tenenbaum’s beard, Chas Tenenbaum’s sense of impending dread and, on occasion, Margot Tenenbaum’s fur coat. What makes him so impressive is that even though his subject matter may be as unusual as Will Oldham after a night on the dumplings, Tillman is a truly extraordinary songwriter. His main skill is his singular ability to, line by line, veer from joy to despair, glib punchline to emotional sucker punch.
Tillman first demonstrated the prowess and potential of the Misty character on his 2012 album Fear Fun. The big difference this time round is that while Tillman can still write grandiose songs full of snark, he’s now ditched the pyschedelic drugs, set every button to "maximalist" and has found a woman he loves.
The entirety of I Love You, Honeybear focuses on his wife Emma, a full time filmmaker and part time weed dealer (you may recognise her as the dominatrix who slaps him about in the video for Misty's ‘Nancy from Now On’). According to Tillman himself, he originally tried to make an arch, aloof record "but the souffle just wouldn’t rise" and so therefore had to trust in his innermost feelings. In writing about love and lust, he found what he deeply cares about: this is an album of Every Fuck Given.
Centring on the transformative power of love and what Tillman calls "the sensuality of fear", this is truly an LP to treasure. The title track is is a stately, sumptuously produced mixture of schoolboy smut and apocalyptic visions. It also happens to be the best song about a pet name since the opening track from John Grant's Queen of Denmark. 'Chateau Lobby #44' is a real heart-stopper of a love song, like Stephen Dorff's character from Somewhere took time out from being a terrible father to write a terrific romantic ballad. The crucial lyric ‘Stay as long as you want / I haven’t left your bed since” may be the most inspiring line ever delivered accompanied by Mariachi strings.
A number of tracks are genuinely emotionally stirring: “I Went to The Store” is a stripped down account of unexpectedly finding your soul mate while the gentle electronica of ‘True Affection’ captures the feeling of a long distance relationship conducted through devices created by Jonathan Ive. There are certainly killer lines aplenty - rarely has the experience of sleeping with someone you can’t stand been better articulated than on ‘The Night Josh Tillman Came To Town’. 'Nothing Good Ever Happens at the Goddamn Thirsty Crow' lives up to its Raymond-Chandler-worthy title and the reference to "I've done things unprotected" on 'The Ideal Husband' is splendidly sinsister.
The only minor criticisms of the entire record are lyrically focused as well. "'Bored In The USA' has so many good lines it simply doesn't need the laugh track to underline its point. Similarly the reference to his wife who "gets down more often than a blow up doll' doesn't work in 'Smiling And Astride Me' - the listener knows Tillman is capable of better.
Minor complaints aside, this is the album that should make Tillman a must-see act for this festival season. He's certainly ready for the bigger stages - and not just for his keen eye for a publicity stunt. This campaign alone has seen him launching his own terrible music streaming SAP, while also at the same time performing unconvincing karaoke in the Spotify offices. In fact, such are the lengths Tillman has gone to to prove that he's "in on the joke" that when a real mishap did occur, it felt like a prank.
After the release of I Love You, Honeybear, it turned out the that the deluxe vinyl diamorama edition (which had Tillman jokily said “will save the music industry) was so elaborate that they damaged the vinyl inside. This combination of beauty, comedy and tragedy somehow fits Tillman - whether behind the Misty mask or not - almost too perfectly.
Father John Misty will be touring the UK and Ireland later this month. For more information and tickets visit here.
