I’d like to dedicate this blog post to my wife! If it were not for her, I would have never given Of Montreal the chance they deserved. Now I am excited to say they are getting closer to the release of their latest full-length album, False Priest. I last covered this Atlanta-based indie outfit when they made what seemed like an impromptu appearance in Miami Beach for a live show back in April. Their new album was a long ways away then, and they had already showed up in South Florida for an elaborate live show at Club Revolution, one of the greatest shows I had ever seen at the venue, less than a year earlier. Back then they were promoting 2008’s Skeletal Lamping. I had hoped to hear more new material from the upcoming False Priest album, but they only played one new song, “Like a Tourist.” You can see the video I made here:
It points to the continued growth of a band I had first written off as a cutesy, though chaotically angular Beach Boys-obsessed outfit to something more soulful. In fact, according to their label, Polyvinyl’s website, the band hired Jon Brion, who co-produced Kanye West’s 2005 album Late Registration, to produce. They also recorded it at Ocean Way Recording in Hollywood, California, where Michael Jackson recorded some of his most famous works. You can see a wall of albums recorded there by going here. Finally, Solange Knowles, Beyoncé’s sister, also makes a guest appearance on the record.
Besides a regular release of the album on CD and 180 gram vinyl, Polyvinyl is offering nice packages of the album with T-shirts, buttons, stickers and the like, but what sparks my interest the most is the limited edition red vinyl version, also 180 g. Only 2,000 of those will be made available. You can only get it through their website, here.
The only track so far made officially available ahead of the album’s official Sept. 14 release date is “Coquet Coquette.” You can download it here. Most recently, the music website RCRD LBL, hosted a remix of the song by Yip Deceiver, which you can download here.
Tour dates so far do not include South Florida, but from the time they played tiny venues in Miami like the Polish American Club, Of Montreal have not been one to let down their South Florida fans. I would expect them to make a stop sometime early next year, as they seemed booked for the rest of the year. You can see those tour dates here.
I’ll leave you with a trailer for the album that features samples of the news songs, which again point to Of Montreal mastermind Kevin Barnes’ growing obsession with soulful, cheeky rock, not too far removed from Prince’s early 80s work. Check it out for yourself:
