Chloë and the Next 20th Century

Josh Tillman, aka Father John Misty, has released five albums in the last decade—and each one is an expansion of and challenge to his indie-folk instrumental palette. From the stark rock/folk contrasts of <i>Fear Fun</i>’s ballads and anthems to the mariachi strains of <i>I Love You, Honeybear</i>’s love notes to the wry commentary and grand orchestrations of <i>Pure Comedy</i> and <i>God’s Favorite Customer</i>, Tillman has a penchant for pairing his articulate internal monologue with arrangements that have only grown more eclectic and elaborate. <i>Chloë and the Next 20th Century</i> builds on all of the above—the micro-symphonies, the inventive percussion, the swift shift from dusty country-and-western nostalgia to timeless dirges plunked out on a dive-bar piano.