Kevin Barnes, akin to David Bowie in more ways than one, creates an ode to Low. The results are a bit disappointing.

Let’s start at the top. of Montreal are a band that are never afraid to try something new, as evidenced from the fact that none of their 11 studio albums sound alike. From the first track, “Gelid Accent”, we see hints of Barnes doing a bit of the Bowie glam rock shtick. It tries to be epic but doesn’t hit the mark, a sort of bland song with a bland drum beat.

“Spiteful Intervention” follows, and returns hope. ‘It's fucking sad that we need a tragedy to occur to gain a fresh perspective in our lives.’ Thank you, Kevin Barnes. I’m glad that somebody had the testicular fortitude to say it. As someone that sadly doesn’t pay a ton of attention to lyricism, Barnes‘s lyrics made me stand at attention for a good portion of this album. Unlike the opener, this track is a bit more complex. The drum beat is still simple, but the song doesn’t feel busy, it feels full, which is what we’ve grown accustomed to from of Montreal.

“Dour Percentage”, a track beaming with of Montreal’s signature combination of Matt Dawson’s funky basslines and Barnes‘s falsetto, comes after that, and leads into “We Will Commit Wolf Murder”, a classic of Montreal track that brings what worked in the previous two tracks together beautifully. It then breaks apart in the final third as the track changes up completely, which sadly becomes a running theme for the album.

Bowie’s Low is a masterpiece of an album, starting with a side of excellent glam rock tunes, and then switching things up with a side of even better krautrock-influenced tunes. Paralytic Stalks has the same structure, but moves from good of Montreal tunes to bad experimental, sound collagey tracks. The album is very uneven: the tempos, the influences, the quality.

Seriously, “Exorcismic Breeding Knife” sucks. I love experimentation, but these tracks are just lacking in feeling. They don’t serve a purpose, and they’re shit.

Except for “Wintered Debts”. It’s sublime at the start, with some hints of country-style guitar and evocative lyricism. But after a few minutes, it turns into more experimental trash. Very disappointing. “Authentic Pyrrhic Remission” suffers from much of the same.

In summary, this is an of Montreal album. For that alone, it’s worth a listen. It’s very interesting, and the creativity is there. But it’s not cohesive, and the second half is downright frustrating.

This is a lot to dig into. Five spins in and I feel like I'm only scratching the surface of this one. I was warned before listening that this is Kevin Barnes' most introspective album, and if it really is that's pretty scary. Because this album is scary. Like Scott Walker's The Drift scary. Like a Beatles album recorded in Silent Hill scary. Like the fact that I'm 30 scary.

From minute one, the sound of this album is unsettling, putting you on your heels with this distrubing electronic noise and then sends you into this dark world of music that doesn't let up until the piano plays all the way at the end of the (thirteen minute) last track. (Like seriously, I actually took in a relaxing breath when that piano hit at the end...you'll know what I'm talking about.) Although the music is cheery enough for the most part, there's songs that harken back to the poppy days of oM, all sounding like the Bee Gees, Beatles, and ELO at times but check out some of these lyrical gems. Seriously, make sure you are on SongMeanings or something while you listen.

All in all, if you're a fan of the track "The Past is a Groutesque Animal" from his previous album Hissing Fauna and wished it was an hour long instead of 12 minutes...here you go.