father john misty chloë and the next 20th century

father john misty chloë and the next 20th century review

review

father john mistys chloe and the next 20th century

again wasn’t familiar with this album whatsoever and just went in without any expectations

i quickly found out that this album is oldies themed and it executes that theme extraordinary well

the title track (chloe) does an amazing show of setting the tone which will follow nearly the entire album

a variety of instruments with great singing that makes you paint the picture of an old theater or an old circus (dumbo is something that was always in my mind for some reason)

funnily enough one my favorite songs is next and it does not follow the tone of most of the album

it is much more mellow and laidback sonically than the chaotic grand chloe and that is goodbye mr blue

a song about a man mourning a cat while also mourning a previous relationship and just mourning the overall finiteness of things in life

it ties into an overall theme of most of the album of a man who is infatuated with a girl and cannot let her go no matter how bad things are or how bad of a person she is

even in mr blue he speaks that maybe if his cat had gone sooner they wouldve been brought together which is a statement that shows just how into that rabbit hole that is her – he is

q4 was another song i enjoyed with just how bizarre it was to hear ‘it was just a thing for their q4’ over the playful but classy piano and groovy bass in the background

commentary on the commoditization of art was not something id expect over that instrumentation

on that note the standout thing by far about this album is the production

buddys rendezvous, olvidado, funny girl, and only a fool are other songs that just ooze elegance and comfort

what took away from the album is the final song, the next 20th century

im going to be frank i have no idea what is happening in this song

it felt convoluted to the point of being unreasonable and it just took away from the narrative the album was on

certain tracks such as kiss me i loved you and everything but her love just fell flat to me

narratively they definitely had a place and the instrumentation was great but i feel they were lacking something – something needed to be expanded on

this album was an interesting listen and overall it was a good album

loved the production but the lyrics faltered at times

3/5 good album