Since 1997, of Montreal has released 11 albums, including four concept albums of steadily increasing success. The band’s latest record, “Daughter of Cloud,” offers a look back with a collection of 17 tracks dating back to 2007.

The album begins with “Our Love is Senile,” which sets the theme of frustrated love right away. “Our love is senile / Like we don’t recognize each other / Somehow we relax to being strangers,” sings frontman Kevin Barnes. While the song is catchy, it’s ultimately forgettable when compared to the huge variety found on the rest of the album.

“Daughter of Cloud” continues on to some electronic-heavy tracks, including “Obviousatonicnuncio” and “Sails, Hermaphroditic,” and finds its way to “Hindlopp Stat.” Also heavy on the electronics, this track arrives just in time for Halloween, as its chorus creepily wavers along for a bit too long.

Potentially the strangest song on the album, “Georgie’s Lament” starts off with high-pitched harmonies that morph into a melodic calm, then changes again into a bouncy, electronic jaunt. Changing styles nearly as often as “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Georgie’s Lament” follows in the opera rock tradition, cataloguing Georgie’s unfortunate problem of being unable to perform in a certain situation after a particularly bitter heartbreak. It finishes with a solo, echoing refrain that reinforces the loneliness of the singer’s call of “There ain’t nobody here but me.”

“Feminine Effects,” as the name suggests, incorporates the first female voice on the album. Rebecca Cash’s voice glides over a slow drumbeat and harmonic piano chords, significantly changing the song from its original recording with Barnes on vocals. “I was a teenager when you took me from my momma’s bed and brought me to the real city / I tried my best to become what I thought you wanted,” sings Cash in a way that feels achingly true. The occasional twang gives this song a more country feel, a huge leap away from its preceding tracks.

Somewhat ironically, the track “Psychotic Feeling” is one of the most stable tracks on the album, with a steady beat and none of the genre switches found in “Georgie’s Lament.” A whirring in the background creates some feelings of tension, but they are more lighthearted than psychotic.

“Alter Eagle” is a true mashup of techno, alternative rock and hip-hop. It is a fun track that bounces along with a mixture of wobbly background noise and solid drums and harmonies that are almost impossible not to groove along with.

“Subtext Read, Nothing New” is a 180-degree turn from “Alter Eagle.” Slow and deliberate, the song oozes along in an auto-toned haze that seems to have descended from outer space. A drum’s beat is the only recognizable noise in the song.

In the closing track of “Daughter of Cloud,” of Montreal covers Neil Young’s “Expecting to Fly.” The return of the piano, paired with reverberating vocals, offers a calm closing to the album that takes in listeners for a journey across nearly the entire musical spectrum.

Organized from oldest to latest work, “Daughter of Cloud” is comprised of elements of mental instability and fascination with self-fulfilling expectations and sexual ineptitude. More of a collection of concepts than a cohesive work, “Daughter of Cloud” offers a wide survey of music. The album keeps listeners on their toes, then lulls them into a sense of understanding, only to jump into another realm of music that they may have never considered.

While it becomes apparent why a few tracks had been abandoned since 2007, the album is an overall successful blend of each track’s individual personality.

““ Leah Christianson

Email Christianson at lchristianson@media.ucla.edu

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