Of Montreal - White Is Relic / Irrealis Mood - EP

Of Montreal is the long-running Indie Pop act fronted and masterminded by Kevin Barnes.  I've been following them forever, and in the long run they've released some of my favorite albums in the genre.  Of Montreal came to fame in the late 90's and early 2000's with their Twee-Pop years, mostly with their "The Gay Parade" and "Cherry Peel" albums.  These albums were innocent, sweet, and seriously catchy.  But throughout the 2000's and up until today, Of Montreal has been a constantly shifting organism.  They've toyed with Glam Rock on "Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?", Country on "Lousy With Sylvianbriar", and seemingly everything else in between.  Alternative R&B, Synth Pop, Art Pop, it's all been fair game for Kevin and Of Montreal.  But in these later years, I feel like Of Montreal have just gotten further and further from the sound I fell in love with years ago.  Now, this album seems to fall in the same light, with Kevin going for very Spacey, immense Synth Pop sound.  But, call me crazy, but he sounds more focused than he has recently.  Let's chat about this.

(A personal favorite of mine!)

    This album starts off with “Soft Music / Juno Portraits of the Jovian Sky”, and right off the bat, I have a lot to say.  First off, I’m actually seriously in love with this production.  Like, I love just how heavy and futuristic this one is.  And by the looks of this album art, there’s going to be a LOT of this.  But let’s get back to the heaviness, because the production here is suffocating.  But Kevin’s performance here really brings this down a few notches.  I’m seriously not into his chilly, robotic performance that shows him not showing any emotion.  I get that like most of the time, Kevin loves being in character.  But here, I’m just not nearly as captivated as usual.  And on top of that, what the hell is going on with these lyrics?  Obviously, Kevin’s lyrics have been on the the more bizarre side of things seemingly forever.  But this is a new level completely for Of Montreal.  Outside of that though, I actually do enjoy a lot of “Soft Music / Juno Portraits of the Jovian Sky”.  The almost industrial beat, the vast atmosphere, all of this is really enjoyable.  If Kevin was a little more on the sane side, I’d be totally into this.  And I do think his more intelligible vocals are actually great, but overall this is just OK.  Then we have “Paranoiac Intervals / Body Dysmorphia”, and once again I am really into a lot of the production.  I literally feel like this is just so heavy and intense.  This one has a lot more of a dance groove to it.  Not to mention, I actually really love Kevin’s seriously funky performance.  Here, his ramblings come off just as bizarre for sure, but because he’s putting a little bit of emotion in there this is so much more enjoyable. There’s a really great driving beat, and the Sci-Fi theme actually comes off really fantastic.  In a way, this comes off like some lost dance mix from the 80’s, one that was highly experimental for its time.   And at the end of the day, I feel like that’s what Kevin was going for.  “Paranoiac Intervals / Body Dysmorphia” is punchy, and has a really great groove, and compared to the first track is absolutely dripping with personality.  As far as the narrative goes, I really am just baffled still, and I’ve been clueless for years with Of Montreal.  But still, I’m fine with this, and even that sort of chilled out groove towards the end is really interesting.  “Writing the Circles / Orgone Tropics” is up next, and once again I’m really into just how glistening the production is, and that pulsating groove is fantastic.  I mean, it’s pretty wild when you think that Kevin Barnes has done so much with different sounds and he literally is just touching down on these sounds for the first time.  But once again, these vocals are bringing me down.  I feel like when Kevin gets set on these characters he will go to any extreme to bring them into the narratives.  Which usually has made Of Montreal such a spectacle in the past.  But on “Writing the Circles / Orgone Tropics”, this is just obnoxious.  This one just has so many bizarre production choices throughout to the point where when Kevin’s normal vocals pop in for the chorus it’s seriously exciting.  Kevin’s got himself stuck in a corner with this one.  There are so many good ideas, but these small details are just so ridiculous and make it hard to take it seriously.  Thankfully, the shimmering production and instrumentals makes this easy to swallow to some extent. 

    Now, “Plateau Phase / No Careerism No Corruption” is much more my speed.  It’s still got a whole lot of Sci-Fi elements, that’s for sure.  But there aren’t nearly as many cheesy moments that make you question what Kevin was thinking.  Honestly, this one is seriously funky and interesting.  There are actually some fantastic production choices here, and I love just how hulking everything comes off still.  “Plateau Phase / No Careerism No Corruption” has a solid beat, and while the instrumentals are fairly straightforward it gives Kevin a little more of the stage.  And I know, at this stage in the game that sounds terrible on paper, because most of the time that’s the last thing we need.  But call me crazy, but I really think this one works out well.  It’s groovy, futuristic, and most importantly, not absolute garbage.  Then we have “Sophie Calle Private Game / Every Person Is a Pussy, Every Pussy Is a Star!”, and honestly, I don’t even want to know where Kevin got these titles. This is by far the lightest tune here yet.  The hulking production takes a step back, and in return, we get a very playful, fun instrumental.  When this one picks up, it’s actually one of the best performances here.  The beat is driving and just as intense, but the synths give this one a much more carefree feel.  Even Kevin just seems like his guard is down.  This one is an absolute blast and actually seems like one of the more “Classic” sounding Of Montreal tunes here.  Even though this track is still full of narratives and Kevin going on about God knows what, this is actually one of the most straightforward tunes here.  I love the anthemic horns, the booming beat, and seemingly everything about this instrumental.  Even the much sleazier and kinky last few minutes really isn’t that bad at all.  But most importantly, never once does “Sophie Calle Private Game / Every Person Is a Pussy, Every Pussy Is a Star!” seems like a stretch for Kevin.  And for an 8-minute tune, I actually think this is one of the most accessible tracks here. This project ends off with “If You Talk To Symbol / Hostility Voyeur”, which is a strange one, to say the least.  Right from its opening, Kevin has taken a big step back from some of the more dance-oriented material.  It’s still a very mechanical sound, but it’s much more rigid and cold.  But with that, Kevin’s performance get’s seriously uninteresting.  Kevin tries so hard to bring in some emotion with some of these lyrics, but that’s not happening.  And some of these lines are easily some of the most cringe-inducing lines I’ve heard in a wild.  “When we made love I gave you a pet name, that doesn’t mean I want you to be my dog”, really Kevin?  That’s where we are now?  Fuck off dude, seriously.  I do still like a lot of the production choices, and instrumentally “If You Talk To Symbol / Hostility Voyeur” does get intense in parts.  I actually think that instrumentally, Kevin once again is seriously on to something.  And if he strips down a lot of the fluff he can really get something going.  But can we address quickly how ironic it is that on Of Montreal’s last album “Innocence Reaches”, Kevin was practically making EDM and I bashed him for it.  But not he’s making synth-heavy Dance Rock and it literally sounds like the most refreshing sound Of Montreal have touched in years.  I’m torn on this entire project.  There’s some really great sounds and all, but Kevin’s performances end up taking more away from this than he’ll ever realize.  

Rating: 7.0/10




Give A Listen To: “Paranoiac Intervals / Body Dysmorphia”, “Plateau Phase / No Careerism No Corruption”, “Sophie Calle Private Game / Every Person Is a Pussy, Every Pussy Is a Star!”,




Genre: Synth Pop / Art Pop / Progressive Pop 




Overall Thoughts:  So this is a weird one.  First off, if this is an EP Kevin, and it's 41 minutes, you sir are certainly losing it slowly.  This project is a weird one, which isn't saying much, because Of Montreal's output recently has been downright bizarre.  But this one takes the cake.  Kevin Barnes here goes old school, is apparently inspired by 80's dance mixes and brings in some of his most interesting instrumentals in years.  The production on this album is ridiculously heavy, the synths are chilly and the dystopian atmosphere is right up my alley.  But all of that leads to this project's downfall as well.  Kevin half the time sounds like he's way too in character, and at times just sounds so freakin' boring and dead.  And don't get me started on his narratives, I lost track of them with 2015's "Aureate Gloom".  However, I do think this is probably the best thing they've done since "Lousy With Sylvianbriar".  Kevin Barnes IS on to something, but it's not quite there yet.