March 4th
Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
I've been excited for this one. Being a fan of Fleet Foxes (one of the first indie bands I ever really got into), I was eagerly anticipating this album. And I was not disappointed.
I don't want to go into too much detail, but I've just gotta say it. Josh Tillman is one of the best songwriters we've got right now. I mean that both lyrically and composition-wise. It just sounds like so much care and effort went into these songs.
The instrumentation here is beautiful. Lots of beautiful string arrangements along with choral vocals, and other instrumentation, depending on the song. It all fits perfectly with Tillman's own silky smooth voice.
Lyrically, this thing is a bit all over the place, and I mean that in the best way possible. It ranges from heartfelt, almost-sappy stuff about love, like on the title track or "I Went to the Store One Day", to funny and tongue-in-cheek, ike on "Bored in the USA", to sarcastic and almost bitter, like on "Nothing Good Ever Happens at the Goddamn Thirsty Crow" (that one's a mouthful). Tillman handles all of these shifting tones in stride, putting together an album that flows perfectly.
This will be one of the year's best albums, hands down. I know it will be one of mine, and I can foresee many re-listens of this in the future. 9.0/10.
This has been a great fucking month so far.