Father John Misty
Chloe and the Next 20th Century
(Bella Union)
★★★★

US singer-songwriter Josh Tillman’s work as Father John Misty is so idiosyncratic and audacious he feels like an increasingly polarising figure.

His fifth album is unlikely to win over naysayers, though his many fans, like me, will lap it up. Opener Chloe sets the scene, a strings-laden Great American Songbook-style ballad, with Tillman smoothly channelling Sinatra as he tells the surreal story of the titular character who is “a borough socialist.”

Unmistakeably a Father John Misty record, he ranges across a number of styles with panache and a knowing wink. Single Goodbye, Mr Blue is an exquisitely velvety country song, while Olvidado (Otro Momento) seems to take inspiration from the sunny bossa nova of Girl From Ipanema.

Produced by Jonathan Wilson, the arrangements sound magnificent. It’s great to have Tillman back in all his grandiose, self-indulgent brilliance.

Let’s Eat Grandma
Two Ribbons
(Transgressive)
★★★★

WITH Let’s Eat Grandma’s Jenny Hollingworth and Rosa Walton both just 22 years old, amazingly Two Ribbons is their third album.

Following their 2016 debut and sophomore set I’m All Ears, the Norfolk-raised duo continue to fashion spellbinding alternative pop music, full of dancefloor synths and youthful angst.

Opener Happy New Year is an absolute banger, a euphoric paean to friendship (“there’s no one else who gets me quite like you”), with the title track ruminating on the same topic at the record’s close.

The rest of album is full of lyrics that skilfully tread the fine line between specificity and generality, sure to be sung in the suburban bedrooms of sensitive kids across the land.

Co-produced by David Wrench (The xx, Frank Ocean), Two Ribbons’s high points are a dead cert for your local indie disco playlist.

Brad Mehldau
Jacob’s Ladder
(Nonesuch)
★★★

JAZZ and progressive rock might seem a curious musical combo but that hasn’t stopped feted US jazz pianist Brad Mehldau infusing his latest album with his teenage love of prog.

Noting the record is a reflection on scripture and the search for God, he runs through a dizzying array of styles, personnel and instrumentation (including a Moog Little Phatty, electronic drums, Mellotron and sleigh bells).

The intense Herr and Knecht takes inspiration from prog metal band Periphery, while a cover of Rush’s Tom Sawyer is followed by some beautiful acoustic guitar on the Portuguese language Vou correndo te encontrar/Racecar.

There are various spoken word tracks, including readings from the Bible in English and Dutch.

With fully three of the songs broken down into parts I, II and III, you can’t fault Mehldau for a lack of ambition.