Review - "Mahashmashana" by Father John Misty
Father John Misty returns with more of his signature cynicism on a record that captures everything that makes him an artistic force to be reckoned with.
“Around this time, I publicly was treating acid with anxiety,
I was unwell, and suddenly her clown portraits spoke to me…”
Josh Tillman has been releasing albums for roughly twelve years now under the moniker Father John Misty. In that entire span of time, not one artist - to my knowledge - has really come close to doing what he does so well. It’s cynicism, overt self-deprecation, deep introspection, nihilism, and tongue-in-cheek humor all wrapped up in modern art rock that sounds like its from a bygone era. Each album is a journey of it’s own - 2015’s I Love You, Honeybear was a masterpiece that explored cynicism and vulnerability in love, while 2017’s Pure Comedy was an absolutely exhausting critique on society that I can barely bring myself to listen to again due to the mental strain required to listen to it. And then there’s 2018’s God’s Favorite Customer which is a short and to-the-point painting of self-doubt, self-deprecation, and Tillman’s own faith crisis. For every album he’s put out, Tillman has fully fleshed out an entire thesis which he then meticulously stuffs into the lyricism. It’s exhausting and fascinating what Father John Misty pulls off and 2024’s Mahashmashana is only just the latest entry in his collection of musical essays.
I actually had the opportunity to hear Mahashmashana two months in advance of its release in a Las Vegas record shop back in September. When I listened to it then, for the first time, I was extremely impressed. Now that the record is out and I can listen to it in greater detail, I’m even more impressed with it. Mahashmashana takes its name from a Sanskrit word meaning “great cremation ground,” a fitting title for an album loaded with themes of nihilistic fatigue and a desire to be detached from the bloated world we live in. It’s not exactly a happy record, but it’s not overtly sad either. Listening to Mahashmashana is more akin to an experience in empathy towards the collective exhaustion we all feel in the face of the headlines we read every day without addressing any specific issue in particular. It’s not an exhausting listen, but refreshing in its portrayal of exhaustion - an album for the burned out soul, not to further burn them out, but to remind them they’re not the only one feeling burned out.
Mahashmashana is Father John Misty’s strongest work since 2015’s I Love You, Honeybear. It opens with a title track that’s nine minutes long, but doesn’t feel a second longer than five. This sets the precedent for the rest of the record - four of the eight tracks are longer than six minutes, but absolutely none of them are exhausting or challenging to listen to. On Mahashmashana, Tillman’s lyricism and instrumentation are both equally on point, supporting each other perfectly throughout. The record also balances the energy incredibly well, jumping from energetic pieces, as on “She Cleans Up” and “I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All,” to calmer Radiohead-esque rock-and-orchestra combos, as on “Josh Tillman and the Accidental Dose” and “Screamland.” Neither side of the energy level overtakes the other in their strength. And it’s this balancing act that Mahashmashana pulls off that makes the record so deeply fascinating and incredible. Tillman further drives this strength home on the record’s closer, “Summer’s Gone,” which is nothing more than a piano-and-orchestra-based ballad that gently puts the listener down at the conclusion of the record.
Mahashmashana demonstrates perfectly everything that makes Josh Tillman an incredibly talented musician and artist. It captures his enigmatic style in a broad and brilliant spectrum and is possibly Tillman at his all-time best. It’s a tired record written by a tired soul for tired listeners living in a tired world. Although the emotions run on fumes, it is - musically speaking - an emotional high point in this year’s new releases.
Overall Rating: 8.8/10
Top Tracks:
- She Cleans Up
- Screamland
- I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All
Listen to this album if you like:
- Deeply creative art rock
- Cleverly crafted lyricism
- Knowing you’re not alone in your burnout