Under the Father John Misty moniker, Josh Tillman has always played his cards away from his chest, keeping up the gimmick on record and in interviews but always doing so with a wink and a nod. Considering this ‘Two Wildly Different Perspectives’ is surprisingly on the nose in both its lyrical content and the video that has accompanied its release.
In it, a lo-fi camera shot shows children playing with toy guns as Josh, or John sings wearily “One side says “Y’all go to hell”/the other side says “If I believed in God I’d send you there myself.”. It is at odds to the insular high-concept songwriting found on his last album I Love You, Honeybear, though it retains the contemplative soft-rock sound of said record’s final third.
As an introduction to the upcoming full-length Pure Comedy it answers no questions insofar as his ability to write something as fully formed as its predecessor – and like Destroyer‘s ‘Kaputt’ and The Antlers‘ ‘Hospice’ it is probably unwise to hope for something as complete to follow it – but it showcases the same storytelling ability that made it so rewarding.