Father John Misty - Chloë and the Next 20th Century

Album Review

Apr 10

Father John Misty

Chloë and the Next 20th Century

The album is polished in an unrelenting nostalgic varnish that prevents anything from shining through.

Album numero 5 from Father John Misty sees him going full-on concept album. His sound is as romantic and dreamy as ever, stretching his sound beyond the already vast imagination of the character he has created.

The issue is when you stretch a concept far beyond its limits, the core can be lost, and the elements that make it up are diluted. It's like pouring water into a glass of fine scotch.

On Chloë and the Next 20th Century, we are torn between leaning into the impressive poetic lyricism and the buried orchestral experimentation. It's too dense and complicated to appreciate the whole package.

Oh, and the conceptual backbone of the album is a real struggle to follow.

Singer-songwriter Josh Tillman, AKA Father John Misty, has always impressed with his pen. His lyrics sprawl and span with acute observation, omniscient quips on life and death, and the ridiculousness of how we live and how we got to this moment in time.

That has not changed in Chloë and the Next 20th Century. Instead, his lyrics have shifted from an inward focus toward fictional characters in a story - primarily Chloë. Her story (and various other women and romances) is too difficult to follow. It's a strain and honestly not worth the effort. The storylines don't really go anywhere and leave more questions than answers.

Is his music just a vessel for his poetry? Does it serve a purpose beyond an avenue for his lyrical exploration? Is that enjoyable?

While songs like "Buddy's Rendezvous" flourish with their melancholic and dazzlingly richness working hand-in-hand with his words, most songs have two separate ideas fighting for our attention.

For example, the confusing "Olvidado (Otra Momento)" is a campy Bossanova tune that is a busy mess that rambles and tumbles for five minutes.

Chloë and the Next 20th Century sounds like the beginning of a movie. Over and over again. The sound that plays in a theatre moments before the curtains open.

It's indulgent and heavy-handed and undeniably beautiful. It's from another era of romantic, dreamy, and nostalgic love songs. The songs feel like we're together uncovering a box of newly discovered dusty records you found in your uncle's basement.

The album's highlights, like "Goodbye Mr. Blue," excel in heart warmth and heartbreak. A feeling of a better time, a golden era of a simpler time. But the highlights don't shine because they are exceptional but because they aren't as messy as the other tunes on the record.

There are powerfully lush string compositions, subtle horns, and dancy keys throughout the 50 minutes, but it's all too one-dimensional.

Chloë and the Next 20th Century is a damn-near oxymoron - how can it sound so rich and effortless, yet boring?

The quintessential Father John Misty traits of deep introspection and painfully cynical humor aren't just muted on Chloë and the Next 20th Century; they are lost.

Josh Tillman is on this mission, and it's going to end in a small, half-empty smoke-filled lounge. After another polished and emotional set - he'll put out a cigarette to a room of scattered applause.

His mission is his and his alone, and while he has the full conviction to see this through, I'm not sure it's worth riding on his dreamy cloud with him for another spin of Chloë and the Next 20th Century.