Context – getting ready for work

Father John Misty is an artist who pops in and out of my attention–he’ll release an album, I’ll listen to a track; a friend brings him up, I listen to a track; he comes up on a Spotify playlist, so I’m already listening to a track.  I’ve always liked what I’ve heard but never spent too much time with him.

Maybe this is why his music feels intimately familiar.  Maybe he’s been the background performance of my life.  I wonder how many movies/TV shows/Commercials he’s been featured in?  Probably not a lot of commercials.

I really enjoy how his soft, folksy (for lack of a better term) arrangements allow the lyrical content to stand out all the more.  Just when you think you know this song he surprises you with references to drugs and capitalism.  It’s a jarring experience, but he does a well enough job of guiding you back into complacency with his melody-making.

I’ll probably keep coming back to him tangentally, but whether or not he makes it into a regular rotation will largely depend on if I remember how much I enjoyed this first listen while I’m next at the record store.  Considering my habit of just buying more Mountain Goats records as they’re available, I unfortunately don’t foresee him finding a place in my permanent collection any time soon.  Maybe I’ll buy his next release whenever it comes out instead of just listening to the album on YouTube or Spotify.