Watch Father John Misty’s Intimate, Trippy New Video
Josh Tillman chronicles a couple’s blooming romance on his newest Father John Misty track, “Chateau Lobby #4 (in C For Two Virgins).” The song’s lo-fi video is similarly intimate, blending hazy, out-of-focus clips of Tillman and his wife, Emma, as they swim, lounge in bed and eat pancakes. The clip was filmed by the pair on an iPad during their wedding anniversary.
The song finds Tillman veering between romantic and hilariously droll. “I wanna take you in the kitchen,” he sings over softly strummed acoustic guitars and shimmering strings. “Lift up your wedding dress someone was probably murdered in.”
In a wacky press release, Tillman says his original concept for the video featured him presiding over a kitten wedding, but the idea was scrapped after he realized how expensive it would be to hire “kitten wranglers.” Another reason, he says, is because “the song actually means a great deal to [him].”
“It’s got the #4 on it because this iteration Chateau Lobby was the fourth attempt at arranging and producing the song that did not turn out perversely sentimental,” he continues. “Sentimentality brutalizes emotion. Much like ironic music videos. I don’t care all that much if you like the music video or not. The label isn’t crazy about it. Management isn’t crazy about it. I have been informed I’m basically kissing an MTV ‘Woodie’ award goodbye forever.”
The second Father John Misty LP, I Love You, Honeybear, is out February 10th via Sub Pop. Tillman previously performed another new track, “Bored in the USA,” on The Late Show With David Letterman.