Of Montreal – UR FUN (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Of Montreal – UR FUN (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 40:34 minutes | 483 MB | Genre: Alternative, Indie
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Polyvinyl Records

Kevin and Christina make out in a car at the airport, flipping off the police officer that tells them to keep moving. Kevin and Christina discuss taking ecstasy as couple’s therapy. Kevin and Christina break down and then reconnect. The new love we heard about on the last of Montreal record, White is Relic/Irrealis Mood, is settling. If that was the falling-in-love record, then this is the staying-in-love record. That was the easy part; this is the interesting part, the challenging part, the next chapter of Barnes’ autobiographical album streak, UR FUN. After several albums recorded with collaborators and various band members, Barnes opted to record this one completely alone. In his home studio in Athens, Georgia, Barnes isolated himself in creative hibernation, working obsessive 12-plus hour days arranging manic synth and drum machine maps on a computer screen with bouncy, melodic basslines, glam guitars and layered vocal harmonies. Inspired by albums like Cyndi Lauper’s She’s So Unusual and Janet Jackson’s Control, Barnes set out to make UR FUN into the kind of album where every song could be a single, complete with huge hooky choruses and nostalgic dance grooves. The result is an unstoppably fun album that could also pass for a carefully sequenced greatest-hits collection if taken out of context. UR FUN is another fascinating look into what makes Barnes one of the most prolific and gifted songwriters of this decade.

The album cover, which doesn’t resemble any previous covers from the group, is a nod to an obsession of different eras, from the 50s to the 80s. This band from Athens, Georgia progresses further in its artistic line (with ten albums to their name since 1997), by mixing different genres and eras together while moving a step away from the kaleidoscopic psychedelics of their previous work. The album cover perfectly reflects the aesthetic of the music, within which you can recognise the creative extravagance which is inherent to the band’s leader Kevin Barnes (particularly on wacky tracks like Peace To All Freaks and Gypsy That Remains), but also a certain level of serenity, sometimes crossed with saccharine tones and melodies (You’ve Had Me Everywhere and the catchy chorus of Polyaneurysm). On the whole, Of Montreal’s album is a sunny extravaganza of synthetic pop, with occasional rock and psych tendencies (Don’t Let Me Die In America, 20th Century Schizofriendic Revenge-man). If you observe this project superficially, you could easily say that UR FUN does its name justice. But it is worth remembering that this fun sometimes masks certain melancholic and tortured echos, like the song St. Sebastian: here, the use of the minor key beneath the bouncing rhythm is heartbreaking. – Nicolas Magenham

Tracklist:
1. Of Montreal – Peace To All Freaks (04:44)
2. Of Montreal – Polyaneurism (03:30)
3. Of Montreal – Get God’s Attention By Being An Atheist (03:50)
4. Of Montreal – Gypsy That Remains (04:18)
5. Of Montreal – You’ve Had Me Everywhere (04:46)
6. Of Montreal – Carmillas Of Love (03:59)
7. Of Montreal – Don’t Let Me Die In America (03:35)
8. Of Montreal – St. Sebastian (04:05)
9. Of Montreal – Deliberate Self-harm Ha Ha (04:20)
10. Of Montreal – 20th Century Schizofriendic Revengoid-man (03:23)

Download: