Dance to a new tune

After 15 years of music-making, Of Montreal has released such a wide array that you can almost gauge the number of drugs Kevin Barnes used to create each album.
From albums we’ve all fallen in love with to more recent releases we’ve forgotten about, there’s no doubt the band wants and needs to create different tastes and styles.

“Paralytic Stalks” is not “The Sundlandic Twins.” This album toys around with the listener and redefines itself with synthesized moans, Bowie-esque distant guitar and interrupting samba-like pianos and flutes.

Of Montreal breaches its own aesthetic and dismisses continuity, as the band’s goal is to diversify, not necessarily to improve.

Key tracks are “Dour Percentage,” “Malefic Dowery,” “Wintered Debts” and the glance-back-to-their-past “We Will Commit Wolf Murder.” The album is a playful compilation of lighter sounds and comprehensible lyrics, with darker turf and deeper interests.

But one thing’s still apparent: They like to dance.