On paper, I Love You, Honeybear is a nightmare: Suave yet cripplingly self-aware bearded bohemian millennial falls madly in love, grapples at length with becoming a different kind of walking cliché, and tops it off with an on-the-nose takedown of the American Dream. But what some listeners might register as smug self-indulgence strikes me as one of 2015’s realest and rawest dissertations. Josh Tillman’s misanthropy is far-reaching; he’s an equal-opportunity roaster, sparing no target including himself. His lyrical eviscerations are on-point and often laugh-out-loud funny, and they’re couched in throwback lounge-lizard arrangements far too pretty to be retro kitsch. Plus he sweetens the deal with some truly romantic declarations of love. This album is every bit as smart and beautiful as Tillman believes it is. –Chris

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