Father John Misty has revealed “Q4”, which follows “Funny Girl” as the next single from his approaching fifth album Chloë and the next 20th Century, along with a video from recurrent collaborator Grant James.
The song tells the tale of an aspiring writer, whose “work of some semi-memoir” has not been picked up by the publishers to whom she’s submitted it. Instead she sits by and watches as rave reviews come in for other, lesser works. Using the cold language of business (“it was just the thing for their Q4 / “Deeply funny” was the rave refrain”), Josh Tillman ekes out the ironic truth of the unfairness of artistic endeavour versus commercial success. He has a great time while doing it too, his voice gliding and jumping amidst the most spectacularly overt arrangements we’ve yet heard from him.
Check it out below or on streaming platforms.
Father John Misty’s new album Chloë and the Next 20th Century is out on April 8 through Bella Union/Sub Pop (pre-order/save). You can find him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
He’s also announced a couple of NYC dates to add to the scant few others. The full list is:
