Father John Misty Announces New Album 'Mahashmashana'

Today, singer-songwriter Josh Tillman has announced his sixth Father John Misty album, Mahashmashana. Produced by Tillman alongside Drew Erickson and executive produced by Jonathan Wilson, the LP is set to release November 22 via Sub Pop and Bella Union. It’s the FJM follow-up to 2022’s Chloë and the Next 20th Century, which garnered a strong 8.8/10 score from us here at Paste. The new eight-track project features the previously released single “I Guess Time Makes Fools of Us All,” along the newly-minted “Screamland,” a seven-minute epic featuring Low’s Alan Sparhawk on guitar.

“Screamland” is, easily, one of the best Father John Misty songs to date. It’s a concerto within a concerto, as Tillman muses on the very same apocalyptic scenes that have populated his work for over 10 years. “It’s always the darkest right before the end,” he reflects, until the verses crawl through twisted and contorted pianos and into an anthemic breakdown. “Stay young, get numb,” Tillman yells out in a not-so-common-for-him, anthemic belt. “Screamland” packs punch after punch, offering some of Tillman’s strongest line-work in years (“This year’s wine taste suspicious but just enough like love,” “After every desperate measure, just a miracle will take” and “Maybe we are living in a state of grace returned”). It’s refreshing to hear him tackle such fits of hope, even when the arrangements bubble into noisy, confusing matrimony. “Love must find a way,” he asserts, and you believe him.

Listen to “Screamland” and check out the Mahashmashana artwork and tracklist below.

Father John Misty Announces New Album Mahashmashana

Josh Tillman's sixth album under his beloved stage name arrives 11/22 via Sub Pop. Listen to "Screamland" below.