Father John Misty chooses not to complete 2022 album Chloe and the next 20th century “And now things remain eerily the same, only getting worse/Now build your burial ground in our burial ground,” he sings toward the end of the final track. However, the song is over seven minutes long and ends on a more conversational, approachable and hopeful note. That they came. In a rare interview with blackbird reconnaissance planeJosh Tillman aptly described the album as an “outlier” in his discography, leaning towards a big band jazz sound and returning to Hollywood’s Golden Age. However, “The Next 20”th Century not only recalls the singer-songwriter’s earlier work in its apocalyptic scope, grandiose orchestration, and sweeping prose that captures the melancholy daily life of cultural decline; It turned out that it was also a bridge to a new album. Mahashmashanaits title riffs on the Sanskrit word meaning “the great crematorium” encountered before death. “Everything is silent,” he sings after pronouncing. Of course, it’s the same for everyone.
Tillman also said in the interview: chloe“I didn’t really know what I was doing or why I was doing it.” That’s part of what made it so satisfying, an oddly fascinating entry in his catalogue. It was included. In contrast, its sequel seems very conscious of itself, even as he as a writer still struggles to find an outlet or a path to transcendence. In classic FJM fashion, Mahashmashana is maximalist in both self-indulgence and musical structure, and its lyrics are a mixture of wry humor, imagination, and deeply hidden longing. At the same time, the song is moving and selfless, full of luxury in a space where, at least in Tillman’s own words, “the self is receding.” It’s a rare approach to Tillman’s songwriting to date. It accumulates every aspect of his persona: ironic, romantic, even optimistic, justifying every expansive gesture with well-honed lyrics and genuine uncertainty. Harsh criticism of “mental health” may sound like it is cut out from social common sense. pure comedy Sessions (“Maybe we’re all too good at it,” he sighs) is followed by “Being You,” in which “someone I know He says he was faced with “a spitting image/a perfect parody that I could hardly do.” I can’t help but take on the role of therapist: “Can you tell me what that feels like?”
Looking at the self can be as strange and hallucinatory as explaining the world as it falls apart. Seen through Father John Misty’s lens, it’s less a result of mindfulness than a loss of sanity. In expressing this realization, “Josh Tillman and the Mistake” is less hypnotic and more drugged, bending reality in a way that feels tantamount to destruction. Like “Being You,” this song walks the line between dissociation, delusion, and even revelation. “A perfect lie can live forever/The truth just doesn’t work out the same way,” he admits on the title track, but the latter is still the destination. On songs like the breathtaking “Screamland,” he seems to be mustering all his will to fight. BJ Burton’s mixing is a tangible reminder of even the dashed hopes he evoked in Lowe’s. Hey, what. BJ Burton’s mixing is a tangible reminder of even the dashed hopes he evoked in Lowe’s. Hey, what. Perhaps that’s why we’re spending more time than usual on the groovier tracks. “She Cleans Up” weaves karmic cycles into a rollicking dance, while “I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All” unravels existential musings with moody emotion. The majesty of the title. But rather than succumb to the fade-out treatment, “Screamland” repeatedly implores us to “keep dreaming” before abruptly interrupting, as if to startle us awake.
“After thousands of years of fun, God said, ‘Let’s dream,'” Tillman sings on “I Guess.” Although the narrator has his own ideas, he finds himself powerless and submissive even to what is said to be replacing religion. “I followed my dreams/And they told me dreams crawled.” His conclusion on “mental health”? “This dream we’re born in our minds/ Feels awfully real sometimes/ But it’s all in your mind.” Does it mean relief, a curse, or something else? Does it mean condescending in the form of ? I don’t know if Tillman believes in any kind of spirituality, but even if he did, Father John Misty never presents it completely seriously, even under this title. And he’s not. In the opening track, he says “Yes, yes” in what sounds like some sort of relief, but the affirmation is just an ironic twist on “Amazing Grace”: “What’s Found Is Lost” Ta”. Even Drew Erickson’s orchestral arrangements, which are very elegant for much of the album, swell to a shrill pitch and then evaporate. Perhaps that’s what happens in dreams. Maybe it wasn’t real from the beginning. But perhaps that brings us closer to the truth, Tillman thinks. The kind we might, perhaps foolishly and against our will, call wisdom.
