Chloë and the Next 20th Century
Chloë and the Next 20th Century is the fifth studio album by American musician Josh Tillman under the stage name Father John Misty, released through Sub Pop and Bella Union on April 8, 2022.
Chloë and the Next 20th Century
April 8, 2022
August–December 2020
50:37
Background and recording[edit]
Chloë and the Next 20th Century is Father John Misty's fifth studio album and his first full-length project since the release of God's Favorite Customer in 2018. He began writing the album in spring 2020.[3] It was recorded between August and December 2020.[4] He entered the studio in August having written "Kiss Me (I Loved You)", "We Could Be Strangers", "Buddy's Rendezvous" and "The Next 20th Century". Following that session, Tillman mostly conceived what the album would be and wrote the rest of the songs before recording resumed in October 2020.[3]
It was co-produced by Tillman and longtime collaborator Jonathan Wilson. This was the first record Tillman had recorded at Wilson's new Fivestar Studios located in the hills of Topanga, California above LA. The two first recorded "basic tracks" at Fivestar Studios, whereas strings, brass, and woodwinds were recorded in a session at United Recordings which featured numerous musicians, including trumpeter Wayne Bergeron and saxophonist Dan Higgins. The album was engineered and mixed by Dave Cerminara and features arrangements by Drew Erickson.[4]
Music[edit]
Chloë and the Next 20th Century draws sonic inspiration from big band, jazz standards, and traditional pop.[5] It has been compared to Randy Newman's Sail Away (1972) and Harry Nilsson's A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973). The album is distinguished by its cinematic quality, with Mojo calling it as a "Hollywood album moving from the '30s through to the '60s and melding those influences to create an imagined version of the past."[6] This Old Hollywood influence is evident in the brass arrangements and string sections on tracks such as "Funny Girl", the "booming" instrumentation of "Q4" which has been compared to the film music of composer John Barry, and "Goodbye Mr. Blue", which has been called an homage to Nilsson's song "Everybody's Talkin'" which served as the theme to the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy.[7]
Critics have commented on the album's more "hopeful" tone compared to previous outings, with Tillman indulging in a nostalgia for an earlier F. Scott Fitzgerald era heavily steeped in excess and wealth, instead of the mortality of God's Favorite Customer or societal annihilation of Pure Comedy.[1] A nod to the style of earlier albums comes through on the album's last (and longest) track, "The Next 20th Century", an anachronistic modern prog tune[1] which meanders over a low-key bossa nova beat and has been described as "seven minutes of phantasmagorical imagery"[7] and a "moody, hallucinatory dirge".[2] The song references dark corners of human history, Nazis, Jesus Christ and the faded celebrity of Batman-era Val Kilmer amongst other things.[8] In the song, the glitzy showbiz and glamorous 20s Hollywood façade fades away as Tillman muses over apocalyptic concerns and the fear that we may be living through an extension of the last hundred years instead of a new century.[8][9] The song ends with Tillman admitting he would prefer to keep the love songs if he can give the future in exchange.[8] The brooding closing track, with its squalls of electric guitar, has been observed as the most traditional Father John Misty track on the album.[10]
Release[edit]
In December 2021, a spoken-word vinyl was mailed to fans by Bella Union. It announced Father John Misty's fifth studio album, Chloë and the Next 20th Century, scheduled for release on April 8, 2022, by Sub Pop and Bella Union. It would feature eleven new tracks produced by Tillman and Jonathan Wilson.[11] The album and its track listing were officially revealed on January 5, 2022. The album's lead single "Funny Girl" was released the same day, accompanied by a music video by Nicholas Ashe Bateman.[12] Three additional singles – "Q4", "Goodbye Mr. Blue", and "The Next 20th Century" – were released on February 9, March 9, and April 4 of that same year respectively.[13][14][15] On April 8, 2022, the album was released worldwide through Sub Pop and in Europe through Bella Union on vinyl, CD, cassette, and streaming. A limited deluxe edition box set of the album was released in the form of a hardcover book, which features both clear red LPs, a poster, and two bonus 7" singles: a cover by Lana Del Rey of the album track "Buddy's Rendezvous" and a cover by Jack Cruz[a] of "Kiss Me (I Loved You)".[12]
Father John Misty promoted the album with two symphony concerts, one at Los Angeles' Walt Disney Concert Hall on February 25, 2022, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; and the other at London's Barbican Centre on April 7, 2022, with Britten Sinfonia conducted by Jules Buckley.[17]