Yesterday Father John Misty shared “Pure Comedy,” the lead single off his new album, which we’ve now learned is also the title track. Pure Comedy will be out this spring, 4/7 via Sub Pop records and features quite a few high profile contributors. Of course, since the release of his latest I Love You, Honeybear, Josh Tillman has been collaborating with the likes of Lady Gaga, so he’s accustomed to working with a crew of other people.
Tillman wrote most of Pure Comedy throughout 2015 and recorded most of the basics of the album at United Studios (formerly the legendary Ocean Way Studios, frequented by Frank Sinatra and The Beach Boys) and then co-produced the record with Jonathan Wilson, who also co-produced Honeybear and Fear Fun. String, horn, and choral arrangements were done by Gavin Bryars, and Nico Muhly and Thomas Bartlett also contributed to the record.
To accompany the official announcement of the album, Tillman also shared a 30-minute black and white film called Pure Comedy that he co-directed with Grant James, which catalogues the intimate, behind-the-scenes and late night moments spent tracking the album. It is available to watch above or via his website. On an additional visual note, Tillman commissioned the artwork for the record — which is below — from New Yorker artist Ed Steed. The front/back covers and gatefold come in four different colors, as well as plenty of other physical add-ons, all of which are available for pre-order here. This GIF is a good representation of what the colors look like:
Watch the film above and look for much more coming from Father John Misty soon. Full tracklist and artwork below.
Pure Comedy
1. “Pure Comedy”
2. “Total Entertainment Forever”
3. “Things It Would Have Been Helpful To Know Before The Revolution”
4. “Ballad Of The Dying Man”
5. “Birdie”
6. “Leaving LA”
7. “A Bigger Paper Bag”
8. “When The God of Love Returns There’ll Be Hell To Pay”
9. “Smoochie”
10. “Two Wildly Different Perspectives”
11. “The Memo”
12. “So I’m Growing Old On Magic Mountain”
13. “In Twenty Years Or So”
