Father John Misty has been on a press tour on the lead up to the release of his excellent new album Pure Comedy, and people are just fascinated by all the things he has to say. Between his full-fledged, heart-baring conversation with Zane Lowe, and his sardonic “generic pop songs,” an SNL appearance for the ages, and resurfaced fan complaints about his dancing, Josh Tillman has been in the spotlight quite a bit.
A recent interview with The Los Angeles Times might thrust him out there even further into the shine though, because it contains the thing every loves to hate-read: Pop star beef. Yup, whether he realized it or not, Tillman took direct aim at chart-breaking, Taylor Swift-friend dating, TLC-melody-pilfering Ed Sheeran — and it’s a zinger.
In an interview posted today, Tillman sought to differentiate himself from the ginger boy wonder saying this:
“I’m not doing what Ed Sheeran does. It’s not this cynical approach: ‘I know what these idiots will like.’ People act like there’s this glut of artists doing what I do. I’m basically a meme at this point. But who else does this? Even when I’m writing a pop song, my values are markedly different. You have one of me to contend with. Grow up. Get over it.”
The one and only Father John Misty, ladies and gentleman. Check out my favorite track off his new record, “Leaving LA,” where confronts LA phonies and Pitchfork bands across 13 minutes. Same. Stoked to see what happens when Ed “Shape Of You” Sheeran reads these headlines.
