I Love You, Honeybear
Following his scintillating debut under the Father John Misty moniker—2012’s *Fear Fun*—journeyman singer/songwriter Josh Tillman delivers his most inspired and candid album yet. Filled with gorgeous melodies and grandiose production, *I Love You, Honeybear* finds Tillman applying his immense lyrical gifts to questions of love and intimacy. “Chateau Lobby 4 (In C for Two Virgins)” is a radiant folk tune, burnished by gilded string arrangements and mariachi horn flourishes. Elsewhere, Tillman pushes his remarkable singing voice to new heights on the album’s powerful centerpiece, “When You’re Smiling and Astride Me,” a soulful serenade of epic proportions. “I’d never try to change you,” he sings, clearly moved. “As if I could, and if I were to, what’s the part that I’d miss most?”
*A word about the refurbished deluxe edition 2xLP* With the new repressing of the deluxe, tri-colored vinyl that is now available again for purchase, we ask just one favor that will also serve as your only and final warning: The deluxe, pop-up-art-displaying jacket WILL warp the new vinyl if said vinyl is inserted back into the jacket sleeves and inserted into your record shelf. To prevent this, we ask that you keep the new LPs outside the deluxe jacket, in the separate white jackets that they ship in. Think of these 2 parts of the same deluxe package as “neighbors, not roommates” on your shelf, and your records will remain unwarped for many years to come (assuming you don’t leave them out in extreme temperatures or expose them to other forces of nature that would normally cause a record to warp…)! *The LP is cut at 45 rpm. Please adjust your turntable speed accordingly!* “I Love You, Honeybear is a concept album about a guy named Josh Tillman who spends quite a bit of time banging his head against walls, cultivating weak ties with strangers and generally avoiding intimacy at all costs. This all serves to fuel a version of himself that his self-loathing narcissism can deal with. We see him engaging in all manner of regrettable behavior. “In a parking lot somewhere he meets Emma, who inspires in him a vision of a life wherein being truly seen is not synonymous with shame, but possibly true liberation and sublime, unfettered creativity. These ambitions are initially thwarted as jealousy, self-destruction and other charming human character traits emerge. Josh Tillman confesses as much all throughout. “The album progresses, sometimes chronologically, sometimes not, between two polarities: the first of which is the belief that the best love can be is finding someone who is miserable in the same way you are and the end point being that love isn’t for anyone who isn’t interested in finding a companion to undertake total transformation with. I won’t give away the ending, but sex, violence, profanity and excavations of the male psyche abound. “My ambition, aside from making an indulgent, soulful, and epic sound worthy of the subject matter, was to address the sensuality of fear, the terrifying force of love, the unutterable pleasures of true intimacy, and the destruction of emotional and intellectual prisons in my own voice. Blammo. “This material demanded a new way of being made, and it took a lot of time before the process revealed itself. The massive, deranged shmaltz I heard in my head, and knew had to be the sound of this record, originated a few years ago while Emma and I were hallucinating in Joshua Tree; the same week I wrote the title track. I chased that sound for the entire year and half we were recording. The means by which it was achieved bore a striking resemblance to the travails, abandon and transformation of learning how to love and be loved; see and be seen. There: I said it. Blammo.” -Josh Tillman (A.K.A. Father John Misty) All LP versions are 45 rpm. All purchases come with digital downloads.
I Love You, Honeybear, Josh Tillman's second full-length as Father John Misty, is by turns passionate and disillusioned, tender and angry, so cynical it's repulsive and so openhearted it hurts.
I Love You, Honeybear, Josh Tillman's second full-length as Father John Misty, is by turns passionate and disillusioned, tender and angry, so cynical it's repulsive and so openhearted it hurts.
Following a lengthy stint as a brooding solo singer-songwriter and as the drummer for choral-folk outfit Fleet Foxes, Josh Tillman decided to rebrand himself as Father John Misty. Originating after a mushroom-fueled revelation, the moniker became a full-on persona, a goofy, mystical Lothario who sang about Canadian…
Following a lengthy stint as a brooding solo singer-songwriter and as the drummer for choral-folk outfit Fleet Foxes, Josh Tillman decided to rebrand himself as Father John Misty. Originating after a mushroom-fueled revelation, the moniker became a full-on persona, a goofy, mystical Lothario who sang about Canadian…
On his second album as Father John Misty, Josh Tillman is in love and married...but doesn't spare on the grim realities of how he ended up there on the glorious I Love You, Honeybear.
On his second album as Father John Misty, Josh Tillman is in love and married...but doesn't spare on the grim realities of how he ended up there on the glorious I Love You, Honeybear.
Josh Tillman's backstory is so sprawling and strange, it reads like an impossible hybrid of assorted rock myths.
Josh Tillman's backstory is so sprawling and strange, it reads like an impossible hybrid of assorted rock myths.
Check out our album review of Artist's I Love You, Honeybear on Rolling Stone.com.
Check out our album review of Artist's I Love You, Honeybear on Rolling Stone.com.
I Love You Honeybear treads an enjoyably thin line between poignant reflection and ribbing the #firstworldproblems of modern American culture.
I Love You Honeybear treads an enjoyably thin line between poignant reflection and ribbing the #firstworldproblems of modern American culture.
Self-awareness and sincerity have always been crucial tools of the singer-songwriter trade, which is why it was so refreshing when Josh Till...
Self-awareness and sincerity have always been crucial tools of the singer-songwriter trade, which is why it was so refreshing when Josh Till...
Only in this day and age could the most human album in a long time be produced by an alter-ego.
Only in this day and age could the most human album in a long time be produced by an alter-ego.
The former Fleet Foxes drummer delivers a ravishing suite of candid romantic ballads
The former Fleet Foxes drummer delivers a ravishing suite of candid romantic ballads
Sonic trickery abounds throughout the album, from mariachi horns and soupy strings to breathy female backup singers and twinkling harps.
Sonic trickery abounds throughout the album, from mariachi horns and soupy strings to breathy female backup singers and twinkling harps.
Review of the new Father John Misty album 'I Love You Honey Bear.' Available 2/3 on Sub Pop and Bella Union. The single is "Chateau Lobby #4" is now out.
Review of the new Father John Misty album 'I Love You Honey Bear.' Available 2/3 on Sub Pop and Bella Union. The single is "Chateau Lobby #4" is now out.
It’s hard to tell where Joshua Tillman ends and his alias Father John Misty begins – but perhaps it doesn’t matter when the songs sound this good, writes <strong>Alexis Petridis</strong>
It’s hard to tell where Joshua Tillman ends and his alias Father John Misty begins – but perhaps it doesn’t matter when the songs sound this good, writes <strong>Alexis Petridis</strong>
Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear review: I've said awful things, such awful things.
Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear review: I've said awful things, such awful things.
Overegged solo album from former Fleet Foxes drummer Joshua Tillman. Review by Kieron Tyler
Overegged solo album from former Fleet Foxes drummer Joshua Tillman. Review by Kieron Tyler