Review Summary: Stunningly romantic.
Love is an especially common theme in the music world. Even the most casual of music listeners could probably rattle off a list of five popular love songs that have come and gone in the last ten years or so. We have songs about viewing a romantic partner as perfect, songs about viewing a romantic partner as not so perfect, songs about loving the feeling of being together, and songs about loving the feeling of being alone. Very few artists, however, talk about unconditional love between two people, the kind that doesn’t see the other as perfect, but accepts their flaws and perhaps even loves them more for it. Even fewer can write about this love as masterfully and as beautifully as ex-Fleet Foxes drummer Joshua Tillman, a.k.a. Father John Misty, on his second full-length,
I Love You, Honeybear.
There’s a concept behind this particular album, which details the life of Tillman as it changes with the blossoming of his relationship with his wife, Emma. Such a concept seems a little cheesy on paper, but
I Love You, Honeybear succeeds in being a honest and humorous portrayal of both Tillman and his relationship as it relates to his shedding of the nihilistic alter-ego that was found on his previous work. However, Tillman’s tale of love intertwines with coming to terms with the difficult truths he must face on lowering his own self-importance to make room for one more. Because of this, even the most sentimental tracks have just a hint of something bittersweet, such as “When You’re Smiling and Astride Me”: “When you’re smiling and astride me / I can hardly believe I’ve found you and I’m terrified by that.” These instant quotables can be found throughout the album, many of them featuring Father John’s well-known humor (“Bored in the USA” in particular exemplifies this trait in its second half.) We also see Tillman get very detailed with the physicalities of the relationship with his wife, a bold yet rewarding move on his part. In an oversexed culture where many artists (and public figures in general) are constantly judged by their appearance and level of attraction, especially through the instant gratification of social media, very few choose to approach this awkward and sometimes painful topic with the level of maturity and earnestness that Tillman does here. Frankly, it’s extremely refreshing.
The arrangements, however, are at just the same level as the lyricism. Layers upon layers of instrumentation swell around the soulful voice of Tillman, who comes through with some beautiful vocal performances. There is a full treatment of maximalism exercised here, with a plethora of mariachi trumpets, twangy guitars, lush strings, and even drum machines all swirled together. The details, as a result, are immensely fun to pick through on repeated listens, such as the mariachi trumpets that appear on the climax of “Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins)”, or the laugh track that comes in at the closing of “Bored in the USA”, and even the concoction of synths and drums found on the album’s oddball track, “True Affection”. Quite simply, it’s a beautiful album.
I Love You, Honeybear is a brave affair, but it’s a necessary one. Such personal topics, even when coming from a man with a surrealist bend as Tillman’s, are too often overlooked for a less mature viewpoint of romanticism in the 21st century. Whether Tillman is going to rid of the persona that has preceded this album remains up for debate, but what is very apparent is the message of losing oneself in order to fully love someone else, in a world where promoting oneself relentlessly has become normalcy.
