https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3eDqluZ-Cs
Father John Misty performs a song off of his latest album “I Love You, Honeybear.”
Staying true to his name, Father John Misty often delivers live performances that transcend the stage and feel like out-of-body religious experiences. His appearance on last night’s installment of Colbert was no different.
Josh Tillman commanded his way through both the subdued and dramatic portions of I Love You, Honeybear highlight “Holy Shit” with grace as well as a conviction that perhaps only a preacher could muster up.
While the studio version uses a swelling orchestral arrangement to signal a shift in the song’s dynamics, here that instance is marked by a pretty epic drum solo, wild, flashing lights and all. Everything changes after that point — you could say it was a true “Holy Shit” kind of moment.
Its been a phenomenal year for FATHER JOHN MISTY. His breakthrough second album, I Love You, Honeybear figured highly in most Best of 2015 lists including being Number 1 in GQ, Loud And Quiet and Drowned In Sound, Number 2 in Shindig and Rough Trade Shops, Number 3 in The Guardian and Sunday Times, 5 in Uncut, 11 in Q and Number16 in NME. To add to these accolades Father John Misty has now been nominated for International Male Solo Artist at the year’s Brit Awards alongside Drake, Justin Bieber, Kendrick Lamar and The Weeknd.
In other news, with his two Roundhouse shows in May having long-since sold-out, Father John Misty recently announced a third and final performance at Camden’s iconic venue on Friday 20th May. Upcoming UK live dates below:
Wednesday 11th May – LEEDS – O2 Academy
Thursday 12th May – GLASGOW – O2 ABC **(SOLD OUT!)**
Friday 13th May – MANCHESTER – Albert Hall **(SOLD OUT!)**
Saturday 14th May – GATESHEAD – The Sage Gateshead **(SOLD OUT!)**
Sunday 15th May – NOTTINGHAM – Rock City
Tuesday 17th May – BRISTOL – Colston Hall
Wednesday 18th May – LONDON – Roundhouse **(SOLD OUT!)**
Thursday 19th May – LONDON – Roundhouse **(SOLD OUT!)**
Friday 20th May – LONDON – Roundhouse
Saturday 21st May – SOUTHAMPTON – O2 Guildhall
Critical acclaim for I Love You, Honeybear, out now on Bella Union:
“I Love You, Honeybear is a masterpiece. An at once personal and existential examination of a love affair and love itself, the album contains melodies other writers would kill for.”
Sunday Times (Album Of The Week)
“Hugely entertaining… Its hard to tell where Joshua Tillman ends and his alias Father John Misty begins – but it doesn’t matter when the songs sound this good.”
The Guardian – 5 Stars ***** (Album Of The Week)
“A revelation… A hugely ambitious, caustically funny album about the redemptive possibilities of love.”
NME – 9/10 (Album Of The Week)
“It wows the listener outright… An album that reaffirms your faith in the transformative powers of love.”
The Observer – 4 Stars **** (Album Of The Week)
“Tillman is one of music’s most arch satirists.”
Time Out – 4 Stars (Album Of The Week)
“A compelling and addictive listen. The gags are good, but the songs are always better.”
Loud And Quiet – 10/10
“For it’s black lyrical humour alone, I Love You, Honeybear would be a winner. The fact that it’s matched to towering songwriting and swirling orchestrations makes it masterful stuff… A provocative star is born.”
Q – 4 Stars ****
“An epic creation which takes its cues from the likes of Harry Nilsson, Dory Previn and John Grant, it belongs to that honourable tradition which sets beautifully orchestrated pop and AOR against brutally honest and sometimes comically profane sentiments, sung with dramatic, edge-of-the-cliff conviction… A truly compelling album.”
Uncut – 8/10
“Essentially an album-length love letter to his new wife, these are grand arrangements in the style of Randy Newman and Harry Nilsson.”
MOJO – 4 Stars ****
“A former Fleet Fox delivers something wondrous: a tart, timely, Broadway-bright boost for the devalued currency of the love song. Sneaking dark lyrics into plush settings in no new trick, but there’s no denying Tillman masters it.”
Independent On Sunday – 4.5/5 *****
“Richly layered and immaculately played, Tillman has a forte for poignant detail as well as some deliciously spicy wit.”
Metro – 4 Stars (Album Of The Week)
“His second album restates his lyrical brilliance… Strings, mariachi trumpets and harmonies work a treat, framing tunes that echo Harry Nilsson and Randy Newman.”
Daily Mail – 5 Stars *****
“FJM mixes tuneful Americana with heavy dollops of ’70s-style balladry. Much of it sounds like Elton John, circa Don’t Shoot Me, with the same blend of witty and powerful lyricism.”
Sunday Express – 5 Stars ***** (Album Of The Week)
“An album that evokes – and stands up to – the likes of Glen Campbell’s Reunion: The Songs Of Jimmy Webb and Gene Clark’s No Other, Tillman has created a sumptuously arranged set of gold-standard singer-songwriterly fare, the FJM guise has allowed Tillman to loosen up and write the most acerbic, carnal and surprisingly lovelorn material of his career.”
Record Collector – 4 Stars (New Album Of The Month)
“This breathtaking album will surely see Father John Misty walk away with all those end of year trophies.”
London In Stereo (Album Of The Month)
“FJM wields a grand echoing production that evokes the decadent 70s pop craftsmanship of Harry Nilsson, while tossing out some of the funniest lines since Dylan’s scornful peak.”
Mail On Sunday – 4 Stars ****
“Rich and rewarding… Slowed-down honky tonk and sumptuous orchestrations in Nothing Good Ever Happens at the Goddamn Thirsty Crow’ are reminiscent of classic Elton John while ‘Bored in the USA’ combines dreamy piano balladry with sardonic lyrics.”
Financial Times – 4 Stars ****
“an album by turns passionate and disillusioned, tender and angry, so cynical it’s repulsive and so openhearted it hurts.”
Pitchfork – 8.8
“I Love You, Honeybear is an exceptional work… A lush string-laden album anchored by a literate turn of phrase that’s by turns romantic, deeply cynical and often incredibly funny.”
Shindig – 4 Stars ****
“With his new Father John Misty record, Tillman is opening up and baring everything.”
DIY – 4 Stars ****
“Rich and absorbing… Brilliant stuff.”
The Sun – 4 Stars ****
“Tillman repeatedly hits the compositional sweet spot… The songs glow with gorgeous, flowing orchestrations and svelte arrangements.”
The Mirror – 4 Stars ****
The Fat Angel Sings 