Father John Misty says his new song is “the whitest, most acoustic thing you’ve ever seen”

The human version of meta-commentary that is Josh Tillman’s Father John Misty persona has used the run-up to his new album Pure Comedy as a means to really give himself to his must indulgent, alienating impulses. There was the 25-minute short film that came with the record’s announcement, the video for the record’s title track which was a cut-and-paste commentary on current events, and now there’s “Leaving LA,” a 13-minute acoustic track of rambling critiques aimed at himself and the people that have embraced him.

There’s the overt Pitchfork diss in the early going, “These L.A. phonies and their Pitchfork bands / That sound like dollar signs and Amy Grant,” followed by a dig at people wearing “sweatshop jeans,” but then the tone shifts. “Another white guy in 2017 / Who takes himself so terribly seriously” sings Tillman, “The strange thing is / That’s pretty much what I thought when I started this.” He goes harder at himself and the cult of personality he’s built claiming that “You can’t control what people use your fake name for” and that he feels “a little less human with each release.” It’s indulgent and wandering, but Tillman seems in on the whole thing, letting the final note fade before saying, “That’s the whitest, most acoustic thing you’ve ever seen.” Listen to the performance below, and the song will appear on Pure Comedy this April.