Oh boy, that’s a massive, eerie wall of sound. Josh Tillman returned today with new song "The Payoff," the follow-up to January’s single "The Old Law." It’s a lush, all-consuming psych-rock mammoth. It features a grandiosity and grittiness that reminds me of The White Album, with melting strings, gravel-fed guitars, and big chord changes.
"The Payoff" was composed by Tillman. It was arranged by Drew Erickson, who also co-produced it with Tillman. Michael Harris mixed and engineered the song at Fivestar Studios in Topanga, CA, and it was mastered by Adam Ayan Mastering.
The track keeps expanding outward through cavernous reverb and layers that constantly bloom and collapse, giving it the beautifully overwhelming quality classic psych-rock epics thrive on. “There’s nothing you can do,” Tillman repeats near the end of the song, leaving me both unsettled and convinced that Father John Misty is building toward something larger. When he sings, “waiting for the payoff / It’s coming soon,” it feels less like a refrain than a promise. (I hope.)
Listen below.
