Josh Tillman, or Father John Misty, released his new album "Pure Comedy" on April 7. Aside from his past work in bands (such as Fleet Foxes), or his productions under the title 'J. Tillman,' this album follows Father John Misty's two previous albums, "Fear Fun" (2012) and "I Love You, Honeybear" (2015).
"Pure Comedy" stays true to Father John Misty's eclectic/acoustic type sound, but this album focuses more on Tillman's reflections of society, politics, social media and human connections. Father John Misty released a statement on subpop about the album:
"Pure Comedy is the story of a species born with a half-formed brain. The species’ only hope for survival, finding itself on a cruel, unpredictable rock surrounded by other species who seem far more adept at this whole thing (and to whom they are delicious), is the reliance on other, slightly older, half-formed brains. This reliance takes on a few different names as their story unfolds, like “love,” “culture,” “family,” etc. Over time, and as their brains prove to be remarkably good at inventing meaning where there is none, the species becomes the purveyor of increasingly bizarre and sophisticated ironies. These ironies are designed to help cope with the species’ loathsome vulnerability and to try and reconcile how disproportionate their imagination is to the monotony of their existence."
Father John Misty has touched on his own thoughts of society in relation to technology and relationships in past songs such as "True Affection," and he brings up this topic again in "Total Entertainment Forever." He sings about humans' bondage to technology, saying "In the new age, we'll all be entertained, rich or poor, the channels are all the same... when the historians find us we'll be in our homes, plugged into our hubs." He comments on social media in "Ballad of the Dying Man" and says "eventually the dying man takes his final breath, but first checks his news feed to see what he's about to miss."
Much of his songs are also focused on society. In "Ballad of the Dying Man," he describes the life of a man who is afraid that after he dies, there will be so many "ignorant voices that will go unchecked... the homophobes, hipsters, and 1 percent... the false feminists he'd managed to detect, oh, who will critique them once he's left?" In "Birdie," Tillman hopes for a world without gender or racial barriers, singing "soon we'll live in a global culture devoid of gender or race... Oh, that day can't come soon enough, it'll be so glorious."
"Pure Comedy" is the perfect blend of mellow and relaxed, yet electronic and powerful. In the opening song of the same title, there is a heavy emphasis on the piano and orchestral instruments behind Tillman's vocals. "Pure Comedy" also showcases the velvet yet rugged voice and range of Tillman. In the song "Ballad of the Dying Man," Tillman layers his voice to give depth, and in the song "The Memo," he mixes his vocals with automated recordings that state things like "just one more mile, you can do it again," and "music is my life." Tillman's soft voice and calm acoustic melodies mix with hints of electronic sounds, whether instruments or voices, that create the unique music of Father John Misty. As the album progresses, the songs become more soothing. In "So I'm Growing Old on Magic Mountain," the listeners are taken into a sort of dream-like state, and the final song "In Twenty Years or So" wraps up the album and leaves us with the echo of the gentle sounds heard throughout "Pure Comedy."
