Father John Misty sees himself in 'Ballad of the Dying Man'

Father John Misty deleted all of his social media accounts last year, something that in this day and age comes off as a newsworthy act of either protest or publicity. But for the singer, born Josh Tillman, it was the inspiration for his new album, Pure Comedy, out April 7.

"I felt like 140 characters just became too limiting for everything that I want to express to the world, so I decided to put my thoughts to music and then put out albums, where folks could get a glimpse into my inner workings," he says over the phone from his home in Los Angeles. "Once I started writing 13-minute songs, Twitter couldn't cut it anymore."

Appropriately enough, the music on Pure Comedy deals in part with the nature of social media, especially on "Ballad of a Dying Man," released earlier this month.

Naturally the dying man wonders to himself: Has commentary been more lucid than anybody else?- Father John Misty, "Ballad of a Dying Man"

"Naturally the dying man wonders to himself: Has commentary been more lucid than anybody else?" Tillman begins on the song that started, as all Father John Misty songs do, with a "funny thought," he says.

"It started with the idea of a guy who spent his whole life on the internet proffering his corrective opinion towards the world, just being on his deathbed like, 'Job well done old boy. Job well done.' It just made me laugh," he says.

It's a reflection not just on the state of social media, in which everyone clamours to encapsulate the perfect response or witty observation in 140 characters, but also grants us insight into why Tillman decided to close his account. A cautionary tale of sorts for people who place too much importance on their digital presence.

"The thing is like, I recognize myself in all these songs," he says. "With this song, in a certain way, I just feel sad for us, not in a pity kind of way but [...] you know, this type of electronic distraction has become the substance of our life."

That may come off as cynical, but Tillman assures that it comes with the best intentions.

"I conclude the song with, 'we'll all be wrong someday', and that's about liberation," he says. "The ultimate message is like, look it's OK to just f--king relax. I think that there is real freedom in acknowledging your absurdity and that in some respect, we don't know anything. That's a pretty ambitious thing to try to communicate and it's why I get called pretentious all the time because the things that inspire me to write are topics that I'm wildly unqualified to address."

Pure Comedy is available April 7 via Sub Pop.

— Jesse Kinos-Goodin, q digital staff