At first glance, the cover art for of Montreal's latest record, False Priest, is a hideous mesh of indistinguishable shapes and colors—a graphical piece so bad that the human eye has no idea where to naturally go. When inspected a bit more closely, however, a few figures come into focus, including muzzled clown fish, hands wielding flaming hearts, scribbling quills and pointed rifles.
While frontman Kevin Barnes probably had his own bizarre reasons for including each of these four images, one can't help but think they perfectly illustrate the completely absurd, unflinchingly emotional and intricately arranged music that is of Montreal's groovy indie-pop. And while False Priest offers the kind of absurd, emotional and witty songs that only of Montreal can lay claim to, this album finds their bullet a bit off target.
Following the strange, sexually driven sound of 2008's glam-pop orchestral Skeletal Lamping, Barnes craved a sound more rhythmic and bluesy. Enter False Priest. To punctuate this sound, Barnes sought out Jon Brion, whose producing expertise can be heard on Kanye West's Late Registration as well as albums by Spoon, Fiona Apple and Rufus Wainwright.
Between Brion's producing talent and the band's intricate instrumentation, False Priest boasts the standard of Montreal sound with a delightful infusion of rhythm and blues. In place of Barnes' shrill, intoxicating falsetto, one could easily imagine Kanye or Dr. Dre dropping rhymes on top of songs like ""Famine Affair"" or ""Like A Tourist."" In fact, False Priest features some up and coming R&B stars, specifically Janelle Monáe and Solange Knowles, who contribute to ""Enemy Gene"" and ""Sex Karma"" respectively.
On ""Enemy Gene,"" a robotic love song that features some of the more haunting organ lines known to man, Monáe's and Barnes' voices oscillate back and forth in a surprisingly similar tone—listeners might not even detect a difference in the two.
While ""Enemy Gene"" may be a reflection on the challenges of love, ""Sex Karma"" is an open celebration of love and all its physical joys, of which Knowles apparently knows a lot about. With lyrics such as ""Close your eyes and count to three / I'll kiss you where I shouldn't be / ‘Cause you look like a playground to me,"" it appears that Knowles is ready to be known for more than being Beyoncé's little sister.
Aside from the production masterwork and guest artists, though, False Priest brings very little to of Montreal's thirteen year, ten album catalog. The opener, ""I Feel Ya Strutter,"" while extremely catchy, sounds like an outtake from 2007's Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? Likewise, ""Godly Intersex"" and ""Girl Named Hello"" are both intriguing songs in their own right, but sound like they came from a recycling bin that's dangerously close to reaching its capacity.
It would be unwise to say that of Montreal has lost their creativity or excitement—as one step into the bizarre theatrical production that is an of Montreal concert would clearly prove. But if False Priest is any indication of what's left in the tank, these glam-rockers may never rediscover the spark that made ""Wraith Pinned to the Mist"" erupt in clubs and Urban Outfitters alike.
