“A vulgar experiment born of an excess of free time.” This is how Father John Misty describes the background of his fifth album. Misty, the pseudonym of the American singer-songwriter Josh Tillman, likes to put up a smokescreen when it comes to his artistic motivations. He did not give interviews this time. Instead, NRC send him an e-mail with five questions to which a rather brief answer came two weeks later.
Hollywood and film music seem to be important sources of inspiration for Chloe and the Next 20th Century† The album was decorated by producer Jonathan Wilson with luxurious orchestral parts and expansive, nostalgic arrangements. The influence of Glen Campbell and Harry Nilsson, artists of the golden age of orchestral pop, is evident in songs such as ‘Goodbye Mr. Blue’ and ‘Buddy’s Rendezvous’. With the bossa nova of ‘Olvidado (Otro Momento)’, Misty takes the listener on a trip to a forgotten Los Angeles where movie stars sip exotic cocktails. Melancholy is the predominant mood of a compelling album.
A new direction
His friend Jonathan Wilson played an important role, Tillman emails. “In the spring of 2020 I started a series of songs with which I wanted to take a new direction. Jonathan already knew which record I wanted to make before I had an idea of it myself. The songs are largely narrative. That’s probably where they owe their cinematic qualities. I didn’t make the link with Hollywood myself.”
Nostalgia played no part, Tillman writes. “The music derives its strength from the fact that it can take the listeners back to their own past, old relationships, et cetera. Personally, I don’t listen to music from the past.” In an earlier meeting, Tillman did mention the orchestral A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night by Harry Nilsson as his all-time favorite album. “Early music has a right to exist only if it touches on contemporary issues,” he says now. “Only then is music timeless, immortal.”
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The album Chloe and the Next 20th Century†
With songs like ‘Funny Girl’ and ‘Kiss Me (I Loved You)’, Father John Misty adds a timeless album to a small but fine oeuvre. His wordy lyrics require concentration when he sings them in front of a room full of people, says Tillman about the tour that will take him to the AFAS in Amsterdam on March 4, 2023. “My audience loves it when I lose my text. The success of a show depends on the extent to which a room full of people is willing to help you through those kinds of accidents.”
Also read: ‘Father John Misty has a big ego’