UPDATE 25/01/17: Father John Misty has announced his new album Pure Comedy will be released on April 7th. He has also penned a lengthy essay on what the record is about.
Original Story: Look, if there’s a silver lining to the socio-political shitstorm the world is currently embroiled in, it’s that it provides excellent fodder for Father John Misty. Continuing to prove himself as an artist unafraid to confront the horrors of our reality – with an unmatched wit – the subversive balladeer has today presented a scathing and hilarious rebuke of the current state of the world, with aptly titled new single ‘Pure Comedy’. It’s the kind of funny that’ll make you cry.
Accompanied by a twinkling piano and a swelling orchestral section, FJM croons, Elton/Randy-style, and like a lyrical assasin takes beautiful shots at the hypocrisy of religious institutions, political demagoguery and the scourage of iron deficiency.
The video too is a surreal, house-of-horrors pastiche, piecing together dystopian illustrations alongside images of Pepe the Frog, Kanye West, kittens, puppies, wrestler John Cena, microscopic cells and, yes, the newly-inaugurated US President Donald Trump. Fittingly Tillman asks: “Where did they find these goons they elected to rule them? What makes these clowns they idolise so remarkable?” According to the video’s description, the clip was created by Matthew Daniel Siskin and “everyone in America”.
As Stereogum points out, a Reddit user has linked to a cached merch page on the Father John Misty website which shows a listing for album Pure Comedy set to “ship” on March 31st. The apparent listing is not currently on the site.
This is far from Father John Misty’s first scathing political blow in song form, the artist having previously released the apocalytic yet hopeful ‘Holy Hell’ and a cover of Tim Heidecker’s ‘Trump’s Pilot’.
With what’s ahead of us in 2017, we’re going to need more Father John Misty.
Father John Misty – Pure Comedy
