of Montreal have announced their 18th album, Freewave Lucifer f
The album reflects the isolation of bandleader and overall mastermind Kevin Barnes in the prevailing quarantine conditions felt during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement, Barnes shared: “The experience of just trying to keep my head above water and navigate through the last couple years played a huge role in this record.”
Recorded throughout 2021, the album finds Barnes merely existing within the pandemic’s all-encompassing reach, and whether that incites clarity or pure despair is ultimately up to their current perspective. Barnes alludes to that constantly fluctuating feeling while unraveling yet another of the band’s typically cryptic album titles: “‘Freewave’ is my term for wild and intractable artistic expression. ‘Lucifer’ is the angel of enlightenment and elucidation. ‘Fuck’ is something we say when things are going really well, or really badly.”
Freewave’s first single, “Marijuana’s a Working Woman,” offers a little bit of everything, and fittingly so as the album’s opener. The Athens, Georgia-based project has truly outdone itself with a multi-part excursion that delivers right to the “sensory overload chamber,” as Barnes promises in the opening stanza. The journey takes more than one spiral down a bad trip, including a pitched-down screed and a refrain that suggests “maybe we should fight/ it always seems to make everything better,” but those turns are always rewarded with moments of epiphany-inspired serenity.
“Like all the songs on the album, this one was informed by pandemic isolation and the psychological struggle inherent in that kind of existence,” Barnes shared about fitting the track into the album’s big picture. “The lyrics are a free-flowing collage of all that I was perceiving and absorbing during that time period. I swapped alcohol for weed midway through the pandemic and that is what the title of the song refers to.”
The single comes with a perfectly trippy music video, animated by artist Madeline Babuka Black, that matches the boundless energy of its soundtrack by making literal sense of its illustrative lyrics. Meanwhile, the album’s artwork was created by Barnes’ brother David Barnes. Check out both visual pieces below.
of Montreal have also unveiled a North American headlining tour this fall, starting in their hometown of Athens on September 8th and running through mid-October. They’ll be supported by frequent collaborators Locate S,1 for every date. Grab your seats via Ticketmaster.
Freewave Lucifer f
Freewave Lucifer f
Freewave Lucifer f
01. Marijuana’s a Working Woman
02. Ofrenda-Flanger-Ego-à Gogo
03. Blab Sabbath Lathe of Maiden
04. Après Thee Dèclassè
05. Modern Art Bewilders
06. Nightsift
07. Hmmm
of Montreal 2022 Tour Dates:
09/08 – Athens, GA @ 40 Watt *
09/09 – New Orleans, LA @ Howlin’ Wolf *
09/10 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk *
09/12 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sister *
09/13 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom *
09/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ Regent *
09/15 – Berkeley, CA @ UC Theatre *
09/16 – Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall *
09/17 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom *
09/18 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos *
09/19 – Missoula, MT@ the Wilma *
09/20 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro *
09/21 – Englewood, CO @ The Gothic *
09/22 – Lawrence, KS @ The Granada *
09/23 – St. Louis, MO @ Red Flag *
09/24 – Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre *
10/04 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle *
10/05: – Richmond, VA @ Broadberry *
10/06 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club *
10/07 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere *
10/08 – Boston, MA @ Sinclair *
10/09 – Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of the Living Arts *
10/10 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom *
10/11 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick *
10/12 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall *
10/13 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line *
10/14 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall *
10/15 – Cincinnati, OH @ Woodward Theatre *
10/16 – Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle *
* = w/ Locate S,1
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