Father John Mistyis the nom-de-plume ofJosh Tillman, who has been recording and releasing solo albums under his own name since 2003, and who recently left Seattle’sFleet Foxesafter playing drums with them from 2008-2011. When discussingFather John Misty,TillmanparaphrasesPhilip Roth: It’s all of me and none of me, if you can’t see that, you won’t get it.
Fear Fun,Father John Misty’snew album, began gestating during whatTillmandescribes as an “immobilizing period of depression” in his former Seattle home, when he had lost interest in songwriting and wound up finding his voice by writing a novel. After breaking from Seattle and settling in a spider-infested Laurel Canyon treehouse,Tillmanspent months demoing songs, eventually liberating himself from his creative impasse. With the help of LA producer/songwriter/palJonathan Wilson, a wealth of talented musicians kicking around LA, and producerPhil Ek(Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes),Fear Funblossomed into a fully-formed expression ofTillman’s unrestrained vision.
Fear Funconsists of such disparate elements asWaylon Jennings, Harry Nilsson, Arthur Russell,AllThings Must Pass, andPhysical Graffiti, often within the same song.Tillman’s voice has never been better and often sounds likeRoy Orbisonat his most joyous, while the music maintains a dark, mysterious yet playful, almost Dionysian quality.
Lyrically, his absurdist fever dreams of pain and pleasure elicit, in equal measures, the blunt descriptive power of Bukowski or Brautigan, the hedonist-philosophy ofOscar Wildeand the dried-out wit ofLoudon Wainwright III.Fear FunisFather John Misty’sSub Pop debut. Gatefold jacket with two posters and MP3 coupon.
Father John MistyFear FunTrack Listing:
1. Funtimes in Babylon 2. Nancy From Now On 3. Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings 4. I’m Writing a Novel 5. O I Long to Feel Your Arms Around Me 6. Misty’s Nightmares 1 & 2 7. Only Son of the Ladiesman 8. This Is Sally Hatchet 9. Well, You Can Do It Without Me 10. Now I’m Learning to Love the War 11. Tee Pees 1-12 12. Everyman Needs a Companion