Father John Misty’s second album, a follow-up to his debut Fear Fun, arrives with a series of explanations and instructions. The convoluted, although poetic, rationalization essentially conveys that this album is a collection of love songs that Josh Tillman, the mastermind behind Father John Misty, didn’t really want to be love songs because love songs are passé. But we don’t need all that. The music should speak for itself—and it mostly does on I Love You, Honeybear. The songs are complex and interesting, combining folk-rock narratives with lush indie-pop orchestration in a way that offers a rich, varied aural experience. “True Affection” culls together deep layers of sound, balancing airy synth notes with moody ambience and Tillman’s evocative croon, while “Strange Encounter” blends instruments that might otherwise sound disjointed if they weren’t presented so confidently here. It’s a lot of sound—sometimes too many—but I Love You, Honeybear offers a compelling methodology of just dumping all the noise into one pot and seeing what it cooks. Once you have it in front of you, you want to discover all the tastes yourself—no explanation needed.