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