In 1996, of Montreal released Cherry Peel, a delicate, sensitive, and heavily Beatles-indebted debut album that rivaled even the Fab Four in terms of simplistic pop songwriting. Ten albums later, Kevin Barnes and company have released a plenitude of fantastical concept albums, gotten married to glossy synths and dance beats, explored multiple personas, and dabbled in avant-garde classical composition. If leaked tracks are any indication, the recently announced odds and ends compilation Daughter of Cloud is a fine document of both primitive and maximal of Montreal. Featuring an infectiously catchy melody and muscular bassline, the song “Our Love is Senile” is a garage pop song of the highest order. The song contently bounces along as Barnes breaks down a failed relationship, creating a divine juxtaposition of upbeat instrumentation and pained lyrics that has become a signature technique of the band. Lines like “You can only breakup so many times / Before losing us to absurdity” and “How can we continue? / If you’re telling the truth and I still don’t believe you!” will have your heart empathizing with Barnes as your toes tap along to the beat. Historically, of Montreal’s greatest works have been results of Barnes in states of crushing (often relationship-related) depression and while I certainly don’t wish sadness to the brilliantly odd songwriter, “Our Love is Senile” is further proof that the “write what you know” technique works magnificently for of Montreal.
You can preorder the compilation over at Polyvinyl.