Mahashmashana

It’s intimate yet expansive, it’s beautiful, but also reveals the ugly truth that death is inevitable for us all, but how you live your life is what counts. ‘Mahashmashana’ is assured, emotive and luminous,

With Mahashmashana, he hasn’t necessarily broken a lot of new ground, but he seems to come as close to perfecting his artistry as anyone can. Put simply, Mahashmashana is a masterpiece. Musically, Mahashmahana – clocking in at a relatively modest 50 minutes – takes advantage of Tillman’s love of a variety of styles.

He’s bowed out from the spotlight to produce a record that tunes into love, ageing and the search for meaning without the compulsion for a punchline or wry aside. As a result, the lush ‘Mahashmashana’ doesn’t quite mainline the zeitgeist in the same way that ‘Honeybear’ and ‘Pure Comedy’ did. Then again, there’s something to be said, in 2024, for logging off in favour of self-reflection.

This is a record of patient, sojourning hope, so leave your adolescence at the door.

If you’ve already decided that Tillman is an insufferable smartarse, you can doubtless find evidence to support your claim among its dense, allusive songs. But you’d have a harder time arguing that he’s not a fantastic writer in both terms of melody – all nine tracks bear a tune that’s both beautiful and beautifully constructed – and the scope of his musical ambitions.