'God's Favorite Customer' by God's favorite hedonist Father John Misty is The Current's Album of the Week. Upon a handful of listens the maybe all too obvious theme of loss seems to blow back into your face like someone reverently emptying an urn on a windy day. Loss of Relationships, his sanity, loss at his place in the world he created for himself as an artist.

Any record proclaimed to have been made during a self-imposed exile can result in a thoughtful masterpiece or "Now that's What I Call Music!" The complete works of David Koresh. Frankly I have no judgement on what might be a more interesting listen.

I've always been intrigued by Father John Misty and have quizzed music friends about him endlessly. The takeaway might be that his ego will keep listeners at arms length. But should an artist be penalized for knowing so much about himself, either as a fictionalized character, or as an imagined ordinary dude desperate to be both? Trading acerbic wit for vulnerability has got to be a terrifying notion for someone so adept at both qualities, but in stripping some of the caustic humor away in order to understand who Josh Tillman really is might feel like disarming someone. He's someone at war with himself and Misty's greatest weapon has been his words.

There is no reset button for life or one's past blunders.

This record frustrates me a bit, Tillman has never struck me as the self-pitying type. Things can get tricky when you undercut sincerity with a more lavish taste for the absurd. I know this is a poor substitute for a record review, but there are still enough lyrics throughout God's Favorite Customer that make me want to understand more about this snake-y hipped bearded man who seems intent to burn it all down to find something hopeful and unharmed.

Father John Misty headlines Rock the Garden on June 16.

Resources

Father John Misty - Official Site

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