Of Montreal
Aethermead
POLYVINYL
Kevin Barnes has as many moods as they’ve had Of Montreal albums, to say nothing of the years and tears they’ve put into this shape-shifting, sonics-morphing project of theirs. Whether each psychedelic-root-derived phase has touched on amorous glam-pop, swooning R&B, or wily synth-funk, Barnes has maintained their position as a mother of invention for three full decades now. To be fair, not every Barnes mood and music has been as delectable as the one before it—I’m looking at the ponderous, Burroughs-esque cut-ups of 2022’s Freewave Lucifer F>ck, F>ck F>ck and the experiments that made up 2024’s Lady of the Cusp as recent chinks in the Of Montreal armor. To fall from grace and good music so late in Barnes’ game seemed as potentially fatal as an arrow to the heel.
After 19 albums, Barnes has rallied Of Montreal’s ever-changing membership for something bracingly emotional (proposed marital bliss gone awry and a move to Brooklyn can do that to you) and more crisply, contagiously, singularly psychedelic than they’ve sounded in ages throughout Aethermead. Though Barnes takes time out to spitefully kiss their immediate past goodbye on the droning “Take the Form,” the banging “When,” and the miss-you-when-I’m-dead opener “Already Dreaming,” the rest of the record is dedicated to Brooklyn’s grassiest knoll and its overall healing qualities. Barnes-the-singer still sounds as if they’ve captured Bowie's Aladdin Sane vocals like a ship model in a bottle throughout Aethermead, and that warble is just fine.
The woozy chamber-psych buzz of “From the Font of You” and the self-explanatory “Listen to Music and Cry” are two of Barnes’ finest lyrical and melodic moments, especially the tilt of vibraphone and piano on the latter. Then there’s the album-closing quietude of “Dismissal Mosaics,” an acoustically rendered plea for sanity when it comes to the heartbreak of any broken love affair as Barnes—though battered—admits that romance always takes two to tango, even when three is a crowd. If you’re surprised that a writer and vocalist as outrageous as Kevin Barnes can make unblinking honesty a new calling card after 30 years of doing Of Montreal, enjoy this ride.
