ALBUM REVIEW: Father John Misty Swings Across Eras and Genres on ‘Chloë and the Next 20th Century’  

You are not altogether sure what you are listening to when you fire up Father John Misty’s new album, Chloë and the Next 20th Century: Apart from his mellifluous voice, which runs throughout, the tracks are all so very different.

This is not a bad thing, of course. It just means that the nerds among us who like to compartmentalize their music have a hard time placing it. It is not Americana, not folk, not pop, and not jazz.

Yet, it is a bit of all of those and more, depending on what track you are on. And if that’s not enough to keep you interested, the eclectic lyrics from Misty (aka Josh Tillman, formerly of Fleet Foxes) will.

Take the first song, “Chloë.” It is a Betty Boop-ish swing number that would do justice to a speakeasy in the 1920s. There is some lovely brass, woodwind, and strings going on courtesy of Dan Higgins and Wayne Bergeron, among others, and it includes an era-defining muted trumpet at the start.

Chloë herself is a bit complex — a good time girl who hangs out with socialists, has a shoplifting problem, and jumps off her balcony to the sound of Flight of the Valkyries. “Please don’t ever change,” Misty sings.

But if you think you are embarking on a modern take of Prohibition music, you are wrong. Track two, “Goodbye Mr. Blue,” is core country that sounds for all the world like Glen Campbell. (It is hard not thinking of “Midnight Cowboy” as you listen). Not that many country songs reference Turkish Angora cats and their expensive food. The song raises questions about who is who, but at the heart there is a lost love and a dying cat that is the last thing left of the past.

Now skip forward a few tracks and imagine yourself sunning on Ipanema with a caipirinha in hand. Yes, Misty has gone all bossa nova on us, even if the lyrics are English and Spanish, rather than Portuguese. This short song, “Olvidado (Otro Momento),” is really smooth and quite lovely. It’s about someone who has a flight in the morning who has met a new lover who could otherwise have been a contender. The chorus translates as: “Never mind. Another time. Destiny decides.”

And on it goes, with a tip of the hat to crooning (“Funny Girl”), jazz-blues (“We Could Be Strangers”), and a folky torch song number (“The Next 20th Century”) that manages to reference a Nazi wedding band, Val Kilmer, and Batman.

Misty is nothing if not entertaining. This is a good album — just don’t expect to be able to compartmentalize it.