IN REVIEW: Father John Misty - "God's Favorite Customer"

As brilliant as I found Father John Misty's third record to be (Pure Comedy received a 10/10 from me last year, a score I never thought I'd hand out again), I will readily admit that it can be a very tough record to get through. Fans of his previous, more character driven and introspective work, were mostly taken aback by suddenly being given a 75-minute opus on which existential, political and societal concerns were order of the day.

Father John Misty (aka Josh Tillman) had concerns about how his audience would take to this tonally heavier material (as voiced on Leaving L.A., Pure Comedy's 13-minute centerpiece), and perhaps he also had a back-up plan in case things didn't pan out. Barely a year after that massive magnum opus comes God's Favorite Customer, a retreat of sorts to the life-and-love subject matter of his first two records under the FJM moniker; it's not only his most personal record, but also his shortest at 38 minutes.

Tillman guides us from the Pure Comedy phase to what comes next via opening track Hangout At the Gallows, which boasts the refrain "What's your politics? What's your religion? What's your intake? Your reason for living?" Throughout the remainder of the album, the loose narrative finds Tillman getting lost in doubt and drugs in a hotel while wrestling with his demons and pondering his marriage (which, ultimately, turns out to be his reason for living). It's a rough journey with a wide range of emotion and tone; the laid back, loungy Mr. Tillman sets the stage for the story, while throughout there are a lot of ballads (the two most heart wrenching being Just Dumb Enough to Try and Please Don't Die), though some slightly more energetic fare pops up every once in a while to break up the darkness for a few minutes (Date Night, Disappointing Diamonds Are the Rarest of Them All).

With so much of his heart on the page, so to speak, somehow God's Favorite Customer ends up being mercifully short, due to nothing but it being so emotionally draining in parts. The Songwriter, during which Tillman wonders how he would feel if roles were reversed and his wife was the one making a living singing songs about their marriage, is as heartbreaking as it is clever. It raises an intriguing point, one where the listener must consider all the significant others who have had their private lives put to tape by their partners; I would suspect there are a lot of stories on our favorite artists' records that their loved ones wish could go untold.

Interesting questions aside, God's Favorite Customer ends up easily keeping Father John Misty's winning streak alive; though it isn't the times-defining masterwork that Pure Comedy was or the sharp, slightly exaggerated take on modern romance found on I Love You, Honeybear, this is a record that can hang with both. Even with a couple of numbers that don't meet FJM's recent quality standards and a stark imbalance between the morose and the hopeful, God's Favorite Customer further cements Josh Tillman's status as this decade's most intriguing, exciting singer/songwriter.

June 1, 2018 • Sub Pop
Highlights Hangout At the Gallows • Just Dumb Enough to Try • Please Don't Die