Song(s) of the Day # 2,994 Father John Misty

 

I've never really listened to J. Tillman (Father John Misty), albums before, even though he's been a relatively high profile alternative artist, putting out records for a number of years now. I'm not sure why this is. It's not because I've ever had a particular aversion to what he's done.

I put that to rights late night, listening through to his latest album Chloe & the Next 20th Century (something of a mouthful in itself), in its entirity at a single sitting. I found during the listening experience, that I rather warmed to it. 

This is clearly something of a departure for Misty. The artist I most associated him with previously, correctly or otherwise, was probably Dylan. * Chloe apart from being very wordy indeed, sounds nothing whatsoever like Dylan. 

Instead, it sounds most to me like four particular artists. Nilsson, Randy Newman, The Mama's & The Papa's John Phillips fabulous 1970 solo album, John, The Wolf King of LA, and Elton John. In many ways it comes across as a chamber or baroque pastiche record of days long gone. A pastiche of a pastiche if you like, as all of those artists seemed slightly out of time first time round, to be peddling music from a bygone, imagined age when they were putting out records in the Seventies.

Anyhow, it's very much to my liking. Highly complex, layered in the manner of an artistic statement, louche and ornate. Whether you take to label this as an example of high talent, or the mark of an arch charlatan, probably depends on your personal tastes.

I like it in the way that I love John, The Wolf King and Nilsson in particular. It's romantic, melodic, mysterious and wry. Four things I always warm to greatly. It's also highly decadent, and imbued with a sense of deep sadness.

Whether this means I'll investigate Misty's back catalogue, I'm not sure. This is enough for me to explore further over the coming months. The one thing that holds me back from lloving it unconditionally is the fact that it reminds me of the artists I've mentioned to such a degree that I'm not entirely sure where they stop and Misty himself begins. Regardless, it's a fine record and I'll be playing it plenty.

* I may entirely wrong in assuming there's a Misty / Dylan connection of course. Would need to listen more to decide if this is the case.