Father John Misty, aka Joshua Tillman, released another in a series of live albums on Dec. 26: Live at the Sunset Cultural Center, recorded on Dec. 15 in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif. The album includes the previously unreleased track "Corpse Dance."
Father John Misty at Fairgrounds Festival in Berry, New South Wales, Australia on December 5, 2015.
"Corpse Dance" - Father John Misty
Misty, known for his unconventional indie-folk style, has released several live albums on his Bandcamp site, going back to 2015. Live at the Sunset Cultural Center contains 18 songs, including the unreleased "Corpse Dance," which clocks in at almost eight minutes. There have not yet been any announcements as to whether this iteration of the song will be part of an upcoming project. His most recent album, Chloe and the Next 20th Century, was released in 2022.
Father John Misty at the Outside Land's Music Festival in San Francisco, CA, August 12, 2023.
Misty, as Joshua Tillman, began his musical career in Seattle in 2002. Touring as a support act, he handed out CD-Rs of his music and secured an indie label deal in 2006. Tillman, as a drummer, joined the folk-rock band Fleet Foxes from 2008-2012, recording their album Helplessness Blues in 2011. His tenure with the group was ill-suited, in that Tillman had intentions of breaking away for a solo career even as his drumming duties were required for touring. His ongoing battle with substance abuse and depression, coupled with tension between himself and Fleet Foxes' frontperson Robin Pecknold, saw him leave the group in January of 2012.
He then reinvented his persona, renaming himself Father John Misty and releasing his debut album Fear Fun in May 2012 on Sub Pop. His career was elevated in 2015, after covering Taylor Swift's "Blank Space" and "Welcome to New York," with a statement claiming he had never heard Swift's versions and his was a parody of Ryan Adams' 1989 covers. Tillman became a puckish permanent fixture on the indie music scene with 2015's I Love You Honeybear, and follow-up Pure Comedy reached No. 10 on the Billboard album chart in 2017.
Father John Misty at the All Points East Festival, London, May 27, 2018.
Misty has since released several live albums, most notably the 2020 album Off-Key in Hamburg, which he recorded with the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie. Proceeds from the live album were donated to the MusiCares Covid-19 Relief Fund.
Misty is also a producer and collaborator with more mainstream artists, including co-writing Beyonce's 2016 "Hold Up," providing drums and vocals for Florence + The Machine's "Wish That You Were Here," co-writing "Sinner's Prayer" and "Come to Mama" on Lady Gaga's 2016 album Joanne and, most recently, contributing vocals to Lana Del Ray's "Let the Light In."
Live at the Sunset Cultural Center, Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 12/25/2023 (Solo Show) tracklist:
01 I Love You, Honeybear
02 Nancy From Now On
03 Mr. Tillman
04 Ballad Of The Dying Man
05 Please Don’t Die
06 Goodbye Mr. Blue
07 The Dead Mouse One
08 We Could Be Strangers
09 I’m Writing A Novel
10 Total Entertainment Forever
11 Chateau Lobby #4 (In C For Two Virgins)
12 The Next 20th Century
13 Holy Shit
14 I Went To The Store One Day
15 Chloë
16 Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings
17 Corpse Dance (unreleased, live debut)
18 In Twenty Years Or So
