Nothing ‘False’ about new Of Montreal

Of Montreal’s new album finds singer/guitarist Kevin Barnes exploring new territory and expanding his sound palette. However, the melodic gold that Barnes has so successfully mined on previous albums is somewhat lacking on “False Priest.”

“Priest” was produced by Jon Brion, best known for his film scores. Brion redid the bass parts to give the album some real low end, something that has been missing on previous albums.

Barnes uses the newfound bass to great effect on the opener, “I Feel Ya’ Strutter,” which sounds a bit like a tribute to Motown. Elsewhere, he does duets with Janelle Monae and Solange Knowles, both of which work surprisingly well considering Of Montreal is basically a one-man outfit.

Although “False Priest” has augmented its sound a bit, it loses some of the impact of the last album. “Skeletal Lamping” was bursting with beautiful melodies and crazy lyrical allusions. Those melodies are absent on this album, as are the dense lyrics.

“False Priest” fails to live up to expectations but still finds Of Montreal in fine form.