Father John Misty’s “I Love You Honeybear” A Beautiful, Lush Soundscape

We first heard of Father John Misty with the song “Nancy From Now On” which was featured on the Girls soundtrack. We adored the song and were lucky to get the opportunity from Sub Pop Records to review his upcoming sophomore release, I Love You Honeybear. The resulting album is a beautiful, lush soundscape that takes listeners on a sonic journey of mass proportions. 

The opening track, I Love You Honeybear, is also the title track. The song begins the album with lush sounds that have a 1960’s vibe to them. Specifically, the songs has a hippie sound. We particularly liked one of the lyrics which offered a statement on love that was full of depth and simplicity at the same time, when Misty sang, “My love you’re the one I want to watch the ship go down with.”

Chateau Lobby #4 (In C for Two Virgins), is the single from the album and the second song. It is full of an upbeat guitar sound that immediately captivates listeners. Thematically, the track has to deal with losing your virginity, though not necessarily your sexual virginity. From the song, the impression is given that the virginity Misty is referring to could be the “virginity” of being with a new person/the “virginity” of finding someone you connect with. We liked that we were able to see the idea of virginity played around with in a metaphoric manner in the song. Also to note were the lyrics, specifically the part that stated, “You left a note in your perfect script, ‘stay as long as you want’, I haven’t left your bed since.” These lyrics show Misty’s ability to make bold statements that stick in your head as simplistic, yet profound.

The Ideal Husband, which appears a bit later on the album, is definitely one of the two standout tracks to us. It begins with a drum based-beat and a siren, and has a very upbeat feel. The thing that stood out to us about the track was it’s confessional nature, and it sounded very personal. Over the 3 minutes and 35 seconds of the song, Misty takes us on a journey of all the bad things he’s done, but wraps up with an ironic question. Specifically, he tells us, “Every woman that I’ve slept with, every friendship I’ve neglected, didn’t call when Grandma died, I spend my money getting drunk and high, I’ve done things unprotected, proceeded to drive home wasted… I’ve said awful things, such awful things, and now, now it’s out,” but wraps up asking, “Wouldn’t I make the ideal husband?”  It was the brazen, confessional nature of the track that stuck with us. It is raw and beautiful, angry and complacent, and neurotic and calm all at the same time.

The other standout track on the album is the closer, I Went To The Store One Day. The song has a folksy, orchestral sound to it, but the main focus here is on Misty’s beautiful voice. On the track, he shows off his vocal range and it is a gorgeous song to close out the album with. Once again, the confessional lyric also stand out, with Misty singing, “Now in just in one year’s time I’ve become jealous, rail thin, prone to paranoia when I’m stoned, this isn’t true love, someone ought to put me in a home, say do you wanna get married? Put an end to our endless regressive tendency to scorn” Overall, this is a beautiful song that immediately captivates the listener’s attention.

Other tracks to note are Holy Shit, where Misty asks, “life is brief so i’ve heard, but what’s that gotta do with the black hole in me?” and the piano ballad, Bored In The USA.

With I Love You Honeybear, Father John Misty has crafted a beautiful album that takes listeners on a confessional journey with various, interesting soundscapes. We would highly recommend purchasing this album when it comes out on February 10th, 2014.