FATHER JOHN MISTY - The Old Law

New Music 2026 Q1 W02

FATHER JOHN MISTY – The Old Law

Father John Misty drops “The Old Law”, a nasty psych-pop track that’s been kicking around his live set since fall 2024 under the name “God’s Trash”. If you caught any of those shows, you already know this one. Now it’s getting the proper studio treatment via Sub Pop Records.

Josh Tillman and Drew Erickson co-produced the track at Fivestar Studios in Los Angeles, with mixing handled by Michael Harris and Jonathan Wilson. It’s pristine FJM, packed with layers of guitar, heavy low end, and that sardonic posture he does so well. Tillman’s airy vocals float over steady acoustic strumming before a blistering electric guitar solo rips through the middle section, making way for a psychedelic instrumental that gets properly weird.

“A man’s life, God’s trash,” Tillman sings on the chorus. “There’s no law but the old law, baby. Petit four, nothing dies, except by ass drawn kamikaze.” It’s cryptic in that classic FJM way, mixing existential observations with absurdist imagery. The song never quite reveals what it’s about, which is probably the point.

The “God’s Trash” title originally appeared on Instagram back in November 2024, when Tillman posted artwork parodying Kendrick Lamar’s diss tracks. This happened the same day Lamar surprise-released “GNX” alongside Tillman’s own “Mahashmashana”. “I’m waiting,” he captioned the post, playing into their ongoing joke of releasing albums on the same day (2012, 2015, 2017, 2022). Whether “The Old Law” signals a new album in 2026 or just a standalone single remains unclear, but it’s the first new material since “Mahashmashana” landed in late 2024.

Tillman hits the road in March for a North American tour starting in San Francisco and Seattle before heading to Europe and the UK in June. That run includes festival appearances at Primavera Sound in Barcelona and LIDO Festival in London, where he’ll support CMAT alongside Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory.