Reviews
"It’s a hybrid of angst and sarcasm and pure beauty. From the chaotic collage of noise opening ‘Pure Comedy’ we’re flung head first into a gorgeous ballad that teeters on the edge of uncomfortable and bliss...", "The 75-minute opus is his most boldly experimental and richly produced album to date, with 13 songs that touch on baroque pop, orchestral folk, stark piano balladry, and even gospel." -- Grade: B+, 4 stars out of 5 -- "PURE COMEDY distills terabytes-worth of doomsaying Facebook rants into a 75-minute comic-existential opus that functions like a despair inoculation.", 5 stars out of 5 -- "The elegiac 'When The God of Love Returns There’ll Be Hell To Pay’ is the perfect fusion of heart-melting melody and contemplative lyricism, setting him apart as one of the greatest modern songwriters we have.", "It is intense, fatalistic, exhausting, and grandiose -- sometimes devastating, sometimes pretentious. So yes, it is a Father John Misty album, and Josh Tillman still excels at tormenting those unlucky souls who enjoy his music.", "Even the detractors had to admire his craftsmanship, and how his epic barbed narratives could be accommodated as gorgeous piano ballads that recalled peak Elton and Nilsson.", "The work evokes increasing comparisons to ‘70s singer-songwriters like Randy Newman and Harry Nilsson, who hid their acidic commentary within sturdy pop structures.", "Tillman wisely scales back the orchestration and flourishes to their bare minimum in order to put his voice and lyrics at the forefront. This approach reaches its zenith on the album’s centerpiece: the 10-verse, chorus-less diatribe that is 'Leaving LA,' a metatextual, self-referential masterstroke.", "It’s a comedy in every sense of the word....The central joke being the perfectly dissonant balance of sincerity and sarcasm conveyed by music and lyrics alike."
