The Internet is flipping out over Father John Misty's new album, Pure Comedy (due April 7 via SubPop), and for good reason. The 35-year-old songwriter and former drummer for Fleet Foxes is the web's Troll-In-Chief or its indie pop savant, depending on how you look at it.
What can't be denied, however, is how the web seems bend at his will when he announces something new or pulls something crazy onstage. What also can't be denied is his commitment to the aesthetic and message surrounding his output.
Pure Comedy is a clear and pointed commentary of the current state of things (or the "comedy of man" as he calls it). The Matthew Daniel Siskin directed video for its title track takes on pharmaceuticals, politicos, religion and more, and a nearly 2,000 word Misty-penned explanation of it all takes it even further.
"Pure Comedy is the story of a species born with a half-formed brain," Tillman writes in the first graf. "The species’ only hope for survival, finding itself on a cruel, unpredictable rock surrounded by other species who seem far more adept at this whole thing (and to whom they are delicious), is the reliance on other, slightly older, half-formed brains."
Damn, boy. What's more is that the album art comes at the hands of New Yorker illustrator Ed Steed, who you can thank for beautiful stuff like this, this and this.
To take it even further, Tampa-based company R I V A L S // G R P is helping Padre execute the merchandising and fulfillment surrounding Pure Comedy. The major highlight of the nearly dozen piece collection — which includes oxfords and cape scarves — has to be the color changing (aka Hypercolor) shirts and hoodies. Have a look at some of the madness below, and watch a documentary surrounding the making of Pure Comedy above.
Pre-orders will ship on March 31, but we still think you should call your local record store to see if they'll be carrying the release.
This article appears in Jan 19-26, 2017.