Athens’ indie-pop legends, of Montreal has announced a brand new full-length album Freewave Lucifer f<ck f^ck f>ck, due out July 29 via Polyvinyl Record Co. When creators f<ck with how we experience time and space, great fictions emerge: H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, the Terminator franchise, Avengers: Endgame. Kevin Barnes (he/she/they), the creative visionary behind of Montreal, found commonality with this plotline as the new collection came to life during a time when the flow of time was difficult to grasp for folks across the globe. 

Like the staircases of M.C. Escher’s Relativity, the discrete sections of lead single “Marijuana’s A Working Woman” crisscross and pivot, confounding the senses yet commanding attention. Arriving alongside a video visual featuring animation by Madeline Babuka Black, and artwork by Kevin’s brother David Barnes (who also created the album artwork), the explosive oddball art-rock track washes over listeners with a wall of funky, spacial synths and ethereal keys, commanding a nearly spiritual response.

“Like all the songs on the album, this one was informed by pandemic isolation and the psychological struggle inherent in that kind of existence,” shares Barnes. “The lyrics are a free flowing collage of all that I was perceiving and absorbing during that time period. I swapped alcohol for weed midway through the pandemic and that is what the title of the song refers to.”

Isolation and uncertainty loomed throughout the genesis of Freewave Lucifer f<ck f^ck f>ck. Contemplating how time functions in music and experimenting accordingly, the new songs are dense with ideas but short on repetition, feel epic in scope despite reasonable running times. The expansive selections contrast markedly with the focused pop of 2020’s UR FUN, which was crafted for visceral thrills and the concert stage. of Montreal is thrilled to announce an extensive North American tour, sure to deliver a spectacularly over-the-top live show of epicly disorienting proportions. 

Photo Courtesy: Christina Schneider