of Montreal - 'I Feel Safe With You, Trash'

[Egyptian Feast]

New self-released double album coming out on Bandcamp on 5th March. Terrible song titles as usual, now with rAndoM caPitAlsatiOn. Can't wait.

He's working on a new one for Polyvinyl too, so he hasn't been dropped.

EDIT: It costs $6.66 but the gag doesn't really work for me as due to VAT I've been charged $7.99, which isn't a particularly remarkable number. If he'd sold it for $5.33 or thereabouts it could be like an Easter egg for people who enjoy going through their bank statements.

[The Mollusk]

The album art and the preview snippet on Instagram are both very unappealing to me... I dunno I feel like I get less interested with each concurrent oM album across the last few years. Every one seems to be about 50% interesting (most of that seems to come from how Kev switches up his style every time) but it's just not really enough to keep me caring.

Still, will always listen!

[Egyptian Feast]

I can't say I was too impressed with the 4 preview tracks that came with the pre-order on first listen. Doesn't bode well for a double album.

[PaulTMA]

Only listened to the first half a couple of times which is hardly giving anything a fair assessment BUT I could tell it's a decidedly 'difficult' album, which I assume is why he's bypassing Polyvinyl this time.  If histrionic PC music is your thing, then it might be up your street?  UR Fun being the most streamlined pop album he's ever done was something I would have like him to dwell on a bit more, but there you go.  Probably something completely different out next year, there's another album in the works supposedly.

[Vitalstatistix]

Blimey. I feel like I'm always two or three albums behind. Slow down, Kev!

Is UR Fun worth a go then PaulTMA?

[PaulTMA]

Blimey. I feel like I'm always two or three albums behind. Slow down, Kev!

Is UR Fun worth a go then PaulTMA?

Well like all new oM albums it seemed to get a mixed response but I think it's the best and most melodic album he's done in about 10 years, but that might be just me.  Carmillas Of Love is the only one I felt was a bit skippable and even that isn't too bad. St Sebastian was the standout track, a superior Kevin diss jam. I've noticed a few relatively recent albums like False Priest, Paralytic Stalks, Aureate Gloom and White Is Relic be released to a baffled fan response only to pick more appreciation later on.  I see it often suggested that he needs to slow down, but an album on average every 18 months and occasional EP I'd say is an impressive workrate for signed musican to have these days, definitely a snails pace compared to the 1970s, for instance.  I doubt having a slower work rate will make him produce the kind of album casual/lapsed fans have been hoping for since Hissing Fauna or whenever...  But maybe it does seem to many that these albums go by in a flash, and they get disposed of quickly.

[Retinend]

I sympathize with the fatigue expressed above - in fact I gave up trying to keep up with the of Montreal discography after False Priest was released (over a decade ago now, blimey that makes me feel old).

Yet there would have been nothing unusual about his productivity back in the 60s/70s. And why should there be now, in fact? I think we're the problem.

[ajsmith2]

The album art .... very unappealing to me...

I shouldn't really comment as a casual fan but I'm not liking how the album art has been all V A P O R W A V E Y and 80s over the last few years, instead of their classic 'Henry Darger goes psyche' visual aesthetic. Seems less distinctive and more trend following.

[The Mollusk]

Well you might be pleased to see this new one looks like it's his brother illustrating it again, albeit if his brother had has his head run over by a forklift truck which spilled a huge container of mescaline into his eyeballs.

Still none of their cover art will ever be as horrific as the fucking hyper-contrast motorbike photo that his ex-wife designed for "Sylvianbriar". Christ that was abysmal.

[PaulTMA]

Seems the artwork is a collaboration between David Barnes and his son Owen, with Kevin's partner Christina Schneider doing the graphics/layout... either way I'm not going to be ordering the poster

[The Mollusk]

I can't say I was too impressed with the 4 preview tracks that came with the pre-order on first listen. Doesn't bode well for a double album.

Barnes' "everything and the kitchen sink" attitude to songwriting/mixing can be great if it's disciplined well but this is a good example of how it can sound truly awful and messy and honestly just plain boring to boot. None of the ingredients stand out as being catchy or, failing that, sonically engaging enough to render these songs interesting to me at all. Chaos can be just as boring as complacency and this is a testament to that notion. What a mess these tracks are.

[chveik]

Yet there would have been nothing unusual about his productivity back in the 60s/70s. And why should there be now, in fact? I think we're the problem.

nah, the mediocre quality of their output since Paralytic Stalks is the problem

[The Mollusk]

How you gonna do Aureate Gloom like that bruh

[PaulTMA]

Heard this last night.  First full listen it sounds difficult and annoying, a "covid-crisis" album, not without some interesting bits but if you're a bit of a lapsed oM fan I'd suggest trying UR Fun then White Is Relic instead.  Placing strong bets that the Polyvinyl album due next year when everything's back to normal and touring can happen will be less self-indulgent and wilfully obtuse.  Could always be a grower though!

[Waking Life]

Yeah, I feel very similar to the above. I'm not convinced it'll be a grower either (which I could hear early on with Paralytic Stalks and Aureate Gloom). Fuckheads is the best track; who knew?

I know somebody said above that he isn't that prolific by 'older' standards but this is album #17 (1.5 year average), without any shortage of additional material. The increased reliance on touring for income means the gap between releases for most groups has naturally grown. The restlessness is there in the music too and I think that's why I have struggled to invest in later oM, a lot of which sound like half formed ideas to my ears. And this one is compounded by being a 'double' album.

By comparison, a similarly prolific indie band like Yo La Tengo (very different musically obviously) are on album #15 but I still get excited by every new release. They've had that span over an extra ten years than oM and I think a solid gestation period can make a big difference. I suppose Kevin Barnes doesn't have the same opportunity (or inclination) to bounce ideas off band members in the same way.

Depsite the above, I did enjoy UR Fun last year.

[Waking Life]

(On the above, there are obviously loads of groups that have produced four or five great albums in as many years, but not a couple of decades in).