Gin In Teacups

There’s this series of burning question I ask myself each time of Montreal take out a new album. Are they taking the piss? They must be, right? Art Snob Solutions, anyone? Suffer For Fashion or… or whatever? It is just their irony-free love for Eno, Bowie and all glam rock the source of all the flamboyance? And why is Kevin Barnes prancing naked on stage? Elephant 6 and all Prince references aside, of Montreal are here with their I-lost-count-and-hell-if-I-care album, False Priest. Who, you know, could be the indie star they were talking about on Gronlandic Edit.

We could, of course, beat around the bush, write a two-page review about how it sounds and how Barnes is one crazy cupcake. About how False Priest really manages to be sexy and funny, put a smile on your face each time that cupcake pens another lyric about love-making, lyric that will be sang in a blasé or high-pitched voice and that will charm us even when the reverbs are off the hook. How the piano is bubblier than Robby Bubble. How the little pink cupcake is still, inevitable, a depressed and miserable one because glitter is not the answer to everything. And how, just as inevitably, the cupcake drowns in melancholia and sadness disguised as overly-dramatic pianos, movie references and whispered lyrics.

Or we could just draw the line and say that Barnes doesn’t really want to change his persona. That tongue-in-cheekiness, funk, groove and strange arrangements are all here, present for the party. Well, I think the first one is here, maybe Barnes disapproves. That, no matter how rough the guitars get the disco ball still lights the room in which Barnes dances to 70s-pastiche tunes. That even if they go and have a duet with Solange Knowles, of Montreal still love ungodly mood shifts, schizoid instrumentals and too-intense-for-you quirkiness. With an extra touch of strobe lighting.

Yes, of Montreal are still divine and worth taking in heavy doses each day. False Priest feels like one would be when they’re high on marzipan. It swiftly grabs the limelight and asks you to take a ride with it in the fun fair teacups. And while it might not be particularly better than Hissing Fauna or a step forward, it still provides many moments that will reassure us that loving of Montreal is the right thing to do.