In four short days, we get another nice, long look at whatever’s going on inside Josh Tillman’s brain. That’s when Chloë And The Next 20th Century, the long-awaited new Father John Misty album, finds its way into the world. Thus far, the Mist has already shared a generous handful of songs: “Funny Girl,” “Q4,” “Goodbye Mr. Blue.” Today, Tillman has shared a seven-minute colossus that serves as one of the two title tracks from the new LP.
“The Next 20th Century,” a sprawling and ambitious track, opens with Father John Misty singing about a Nazi wedding band over a light samba beat and atmospheric strings. From there, the track surges upward and outward, with noisy squalls of guitar occasionally piercing through the song’s delicate atmosphere, while Tillman offers up a whole lot of images and ideas that we’ll be picking through for a while.
On “The Next 20th Century,” Father John Misty seems to be singing about the difficulty of love in a world where everything is commodified, but there’s more to it than that. There are detours and stray thoughts and namechecks: “Val Kilmer had a wall-length mirror just over there/ Well, I’m sure he’s someone else now, but he was Batman when he lived here.” It’s a fascinating piece of music, and you can hear it below.
Chloë And The Next 20th Century is out 4/8 on Sub Pop and Bella Union.
