“Yacht rock” is the answer to the question “where will Father John Misty go next?” That’s what’s implied on his new song, “Real Love Baby,” which he released via Soundcloud, accompanied only with the words “why not.”
“Real Love Baby” arrives after Father John Misty had released a few joke tunes, mostly in the form of fake jingles — for Prius and Pandora. He also wrote lyrics to the theme song for House of Cards, and did that whole Lou Reed-covering-Ryan Adams-covering-Taylor Swift thing. So, sure, approach this song with skepticism, especially because Misty has said before that after his last album he had wanted to stop making songs about love, and this is yet another song about love.
No word yet on a new album—his last was 2015’s I Love You, Honeybear—but if it sounds anything like this easy ’70s jam, it’s gonna be good
Lana Del Rey has finally premiered the official music video for track “Freak” from her last studio album titled “Honeymoon”. The music video is 11 minutes long and has nothing to ‘freak’ about but everything to be happy about.
“Freak” music video features Father John Misty who plays Lana Del Rey’s lover. Lana shared a short clip from the video on Twitter before premiering the full video yesterday through VEVO in the USA which created a lot of hype. As soon as the music video premiered through VEVO, it got thousands of hits within minutes.
The music video is about Lana Del Rey and Father John Misty’s romantic day off in countryside. They relax near a cliff and show their affection for each other. Lana, who is definitely very passionate about her man, drugs him and makes his sexual fantasies come true. Father John Misty sees himself surrounded by beautiful girls who seem to be there only to make him happy. Then Lana takes the drug too and joins her man in his fantasies. She, along with the other girls, starts loving Father John Misty. Towards the end of the video, they all dive in water together after Lana poured a red drink all over her body trying to seduce her man.
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 ****
God (John Lennon cover) – Father John Misty with the Jonathan Wilson Band – Troubadour – Dec 19th 2015,
4th Annual Merry Minstrel Musical Circus fundraiser.
With the Jonathan Wilson band at the 4th Annual Magical Musical Circus fund raiser.
In terms of notoriety, Father John Misty’s biggest covers came when he seemingly mocked (?) Ryan Adams by reworking Taylor Swift’s “Welcome to New York” and “Blank Space” in the vein of Velvet Underground, only to later remove both songs from Internet existence after Lou Reed came to him in a dream.
In terms of quality, however, the accolade for his best cover song of 2015 may have occurred this week when he appeared at the 4th Annual Merry Minstrel Musical Circus in Los Angeles. J. Tillman joined the Jonathan WilsonBand for a modern-day reimagining of John Lennon’s “God”. Along with the usual targets, Tillman railed against everything from Facebook, to smoothies, to Christmas, all while maintaining the same impassioned spirit of Lennon’s original.
Father John Misty performs “I Love You Honeybear” in the BBC Music Tepee at Glastonbury 2015. Look, we write about Father John Misty a lot. By now you probably know how we feel about him . But 2015 saw Father John Misty somehow bringing his live show to a higher level with his “I Love You, Honeybear” material, shifting gears from stunningly gorgeous on “I Went to the Store One Day” to disaffected and funny as hell on “Bored in the USA” at the drop of a hat.
Father John Misty – I Loved You, Honeybee (Bella Union): Father John Misty has reworked the title track of his critically acclaimed I Love You, Honeybear released earlier this year. The newly arranged acoustic track is accompanied by another new track, ‘I’ve Never Been A Woman’. Oh, and it’s red and in the shape of a heart, meaning that not only will it sound amazing, but it will look beautiful as well.
Not content with simply releasing the best album of the year so far , Father John Misty has taken to video writing, co-penning the ideas behind his latest effort, I Love You Honeybear with his wife Emma and co-directing it with Grant James. The result, staring Brett Gelman (The Other Guys) and Susan Traylor (Greenberg) is meant to represent an average night in the life of two EMTs.
Was Father John Misty born with a bearded smirk on his face? “I Love You, Honeybear” suggests not. The singer-songwriter’s sophomore album hears him stare down what he sees as un-ironic, all-caps love and throw himself at her feet. He cuts himself wide open in the process, describing the fear manifest in becoming a leader of something as permanent as a family, which evokes his doubts about himself as much as his partner. Self-mocking balladry ensues.A fantastic year for Father John Misty, akaJosh Tillman, is looking likely to continue into the summer, with sets at Glastonbury and Green Man Festival to look forward to. Plus a tour of the UK in early 2016 ,
Father John Misty covers Ryan Adams’ cover of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” in the style of Velvet Underground. A a contemporary classic.
Father John Misty must not think much of Ryan Adams’ Taylor Swift fandom. Josh Tillman (who’s Father John Misty the same way Justin Vernon is Bon Iver) has released two Taylor Swift covers of his own, only they’re done in the style of Ryan Adams by way of the Velvet Underground. Tillman’s versions of “Blank Space” and “Welcome To New York” are incredibly layered and intricate—both as tracks and as jokes—with Tillman both paying subtle tribute to the artists and commenting, as hetweeted, on “what a dumb world” we live in, or at least produce and consume music in. More than anything, the two cuts prove that Tillman is just really great at impersonating Lou Reed.
Father John Misty cover’s Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” in honour of them being named CBC Music’s Best Canadian Band of all Time: Indie star Father John Misty stopped by the b.b. gun’s The Shed while in Vancouver during his current tour. Misty immediately picked up on the vibe of the little room and played an exclusive set to an audience of about 25 people. This is the b.b. gun session.
Father John Misty performs Chateau Lobby #4 (In C For Two Virgins) at Glastonbury 2015. Visit the Glastonbury website at http://bbc.co.uk/glastonbury for more videos and photos.
Glastonbury and folk rock go together like bees and honey and there’s no finer practitioner of the genre around today than Father John Misty, aka Josh Tillman. As J. Tillman, he released a slew of celebrated solo records between 2003 and 2010 before becoming Father John Misty and breaking through with 2015’s acclaimed “I Love You, Honeybear”, which includes stand-out track Bored In The USA.
The Maryland-born singer-songwriter played the 6 Music Festival in February this year, as well as a session for Lauren Laverne. A former member of Fleet Foxes, he’ll be more than familiar with Glastonbury – except this time he’s taking the plaudits alone.
From The Guardian’s How I wrote…sessions in association with HP. An exclusive interview with Father John Misty and performance of ‘I’m Writing a Novel’ from his début solo album ‘Fear Fun’.
For those of you who are overanalyzing what he says….that’s his gig…..he’s f$#$ing with us, but in a fun way.He doesn’t take himself too seriously, and he has a killer sense of bizarre humor in his music and the interviews he gives. If you don’t own this record, it’s a shame. It’s probably one of the best records to come out in the last 30 years. This is the the musical equivalent to the honesty of Louis CK’s comedy. He pokes fun at his own ego and the ridiculousness of the entertainment industry in general. The songs speak for themselves. When a songwriter can craft something that’s honest and touching with humor mixed in, it’s not a stretch to call that person a genius. One poster said this is “inside music.” That person must not have listened to the record,
Father John Misty covers Ryan Adams’ cover of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” in the style of Velvet Underground. A a contemporary classic.
The Fat Angel Sings 