Father John Misty - Mahashmashana
On May 2nd, 2023, I had the privilege of seeing Father John Misty, the musical project of Joshua Tillman, live in concert in my home city of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Not only was it the very first show I ever covered as a music journalist but it was also the first concert I ever got front row at – and boy, was it life changing.
At the time, Tillman was on tour for his 2022 record titled Chloë and the Next 20th Century though he played an amalgamation of songs from all albums such as I’m Writing a Novel off of 2012’s Fear Fun and Holy Shit off of 2015’s I Love You, Honeybear. It was a great glimpse at how diverse his discography is with styles ranging from jazz to folk to genres that have yet to be defined. If you look in chronological order, his debut album (Fear Fun) started out with a twangy approach to acoustic pop music which was adjacent to his work with previous projects; J Tillman and Fleet Foxes. His sound then evolved into a more romantic vibe with I Love You, Honeybear. 2017’s Pure Comedy then brought listeners satirical melancholy only for 2018’s God’s Favorite Customer to have a cinematic cadence to it, Chloë and the Next 20th Century throwing us all for a loop with its jazzy and complex foundations. With these five full length records under his belt, Father John Misty is yet again showing fans his fluidity as an artist with the newest album, an 8 song–long LP under the title of Mahashmashana.
Mahashmashana opens up with its title track – a nearly ten minute long work that’s cinematic in its own. It brings a solemn approach to music in the same way that George Harrison’s early solo works did due to its instrumental mourning and though this album is squaring up to be Tillman’s most cryptically written work so far, fan and lyrical analysis has determined that this first number is a metaphor of a relationship between a man and a woman that serves as the relationship between man and the human existence. In an interview with Blackbird Spyplane, a Substack publication, Tillman discussed the song, saying “maybe there’s reason to believe that the real truth of our experience is non-human — but the flesh wins every time. The body wins. It’s just too vivid. The hallucination is too strong”. He showcases this theme through the lines “Mahashmashana, all is silent and in the next universal dawn. Won’t have to do the corpse dance, do the corpse dance, do the corpse dance with these on”, with ‘the corpse dance’ alluding to our physical bodies and the lives we are forced to live in them.
Another tune off of Mahashmashana that’s worthy of highlighting is Josh Tillman and the Accidental Dose, song number three. Historically, Tillman has always named songs after himself where he proceeds to narrate in a first person perspective as if he were looking back on something. Josh Tillman and the Accidental Dose is a fluid mix of jazz and rock while he sings about what appears to be his run with drugs over the years, which he has often written about in past projects. “Around this time, I publicly was treating acid with anxiety.” He sings, playing around with the idea that acid is something you treat rather than the other way around, another clever notion emphasizing his skill as a songwriter. “I was unwell and suddenly her clown portraits spoke to me…’You’re in no shape, you’re in no shape. All the king’s horses, all the king’s men. You may never be whole again” completes the chorus, signifying the song’s meaning centered around drug abuse and perhaps the opening of a third eye because of it. Tillman continues to repeat this mantra that the supposed clown portraits tell him through his bad trip, making note that in the end he woke with the sun only to realize that he’d lost his mind and that some things “never taste quite as sweet”.
I’ve focused on the witty nature of Tillman’s songwriting so far, which is certainly a huge foundation of him and his craft that makes or breaks each song, but another and just–as–deserving element of Mahashmashana I feel needs to be focused on is the sound itself. As established, Tillman’s voice is the one constant throughout the years of music under the Father John Misty project; he has always maintained it to be smooth and jazzy as if he’s singing at a speakeasy in the thick of New Orleans rather than in a studio in Los Angeles and with this new record, it’s no different. His ability to keep the same cadence and style within his vocals while also completely messing around with different instrumental approaches is impressive on its own, as we’ve all seen our fair share of artists who can’t even seem to nail the basics of one sound let alone multiple. The instrumentals in this record are more Chloë and the Next 20th Century leaning when taking his past into account because of the prominent backing orchestra found in each track but I’d argue that Mahashmashana elevates it to a bigger and better soundtrack fit for the screen. A plethora of pianos, cellos, trumpets, guitars, drums, horns, violins, violas, basses, synth, trombones, and more make up the instrumental backing of Mahashmashana in each and every song like a revolutionary film score from the likes of Herbert Stothart or Howard Shore. The most powerful tracks from this perspective of sound are by far Josh Tillman and the Accidental Dose, Screamland, and the closing number; Summer’s Gone.
After the release of Mahashmashana, listeners can catch Father John Misty alongside his extensively talented backing band on tour in 2025. He will be playing cities such as Detroit, Boston, Chattanooga, and even spots across the pond like Berlin, Paris, Brighton, and more. After his run of shows this year opening for Kacey Muskgraves and his sudden viralness over the 2015 single Real Love Baby, Father John Misty is becoming more relevant than ever – grab some tickets while you can.