The stylistic leap was part impulse, part intention, symbolizing Barnes urge to reacquaint himself with the present-day.
This record feels a lot more optimistic, Barnes tells EW.
What were you responding to while writing it?
Credit: Ben Rouse
KEVIN BARNES:I was just observing how much misogyny still exists, as much as society has evolved.
I feel like the song is a little bit naive.
Throughout of Montreals discography, youve played with a number of perspectives.
Did you look more outward forInnocence?
Its almost like journal entries.
All sorts of misadventures.
Its sort of this time capsule for what was going on in my life.
Do you touch on any other social issues throughout the record?
Its really a slogan and a call for people to come together and accept each other.
It sort of sums up my current attitude towards life, humanity, social issues, everything.
Your last album,Aureate Gloom, was a very personal record for you.
How were you feeling coming away from that?
This record feels a lot more optimistic.
I feel like I turned a corner at the end of the record where it felt much more positive.
What have you learned in the process?
I was surprised by how much my identity was connected to my marriage.
When that dissolved, I found myself fairly lost, and I had to piece myself back together.
But I also learned a lot about myself and what I need to be happy and inspired and engaged.
When you dont have that other side, it becomes more homogenous.
On some level its scarier because its all on you and youre not sharing it with anybody.
When I was in the relationship, things that I thought were problems were actually beneficial for me.
If all you have is alone time, then alone time is something completely different.
At the same time, Of Montreal is almost constantly reinventing itself.
Youve touched on electronic, pop, rock, folk.
When you announcedInnocence, you said youd been influenced by contemporary music more than youd been in the past.
What pushed you to finally cross that boundary into modern music?
Did you have a focal point for this project?
Theres also some stuff thats sadder and more emotionally intense, so its kind of all over the place.
Where do you draw the line between being authentic and being imaginative?
Do you think theres a point where reality can get lost in fantasy?
Have you started plotting what this album will look like on stage?
Yeah, were pretty deep into it.
Everybody was off doing their own things before, but this time weve had many, many production meetings.
Theres definitely going to be a lot of costume changes, a lot of theatrical moments and comedic moments.
Its going to be a lot of awkward magic.
The way were approaching it is more like avant-garde musical theater.
Its like a trippy off-Broadway thing where every moment is scripted and its not really left to random chance.
Its a special, not even remotely typical rock n roll performance.
