I Love You, Honeybear has hidden inside a small booklet titled Exercises for Listening, which details a set of instructions for how to listen to each song on the album. Instructions range from a recipe with supplies such as one blazing hot August morning, one moment of clarity (subject to availability) and the desert, to drawing then erasing a portrait of yourself, recording the sound of your ears ringing and walking in the opposite direction of someone you love for six weeks. It’s bizarre and completely sarcastic, which makes it the perfect accompaniment to the record it shares a case with.
I Love You, Honeybear is the second release for Father John Misty, the alter ego of former Fleet Foxes’ drummer Josh Tillman, and Tillman’s first release since getting hitched to wife Emma in 2013. Despite its title, the album is far from a gooey, blissful love story. It’s love at its stark, unglamorous, lustful best – covering everything from the near overdose of a one-night stand to meeting his now wife for the first time. You won’t find any Hallmark-worthy sentiments here. Instead you’ll find musings such as “Maybe love is just an economy based on resource scarcity,” “How many people rise and think, ‘Oh good, the stranger’s body’s still here, our arrangement hasn’t changed,” or “Insert here, a sentiment re: our golden years.”
Tillman is equal parts cynical and sarcastic as he’s sincere and brutally honest. His dry, self-depreciating storytelling ranges from that of a stand-up comedy routine (The Night Josh Tillman Came To Our Apt.), to a scathing journal entry (The Ideal Husband) and pure poetry and reflection (Holy Shit). The songs themselves are equally as enjoyable as their lyrics, with layers of Americana folk, soaring string harmonies and jangling acoustic guitar. Tillman bellows out his twisted romanticisms with a sublime tortured passion – best exhibited in album standouts Strange Encounter and Bored In The USA.
Even in all its cynicism and humour, I Love You, Honeybear is inexplicably touching and far more genuine and captivating than most of its traditionally romantic musical counterparts. It captures all the highs and lows that go along with love, right up until the closing line of the album, when Tillman first approaches Emma to ask, “I’ve seen you around, what’s your name?”.
BY KELSEY BERRY
