Album Review: Of Montreal - Innocence Reaches

"How do you identify?"

It's a bold, simple question. Kevin Barnes has been asking it for a while now, but never this directly. And it may not be a question directed at us all, even though he certainly wants us to be a part of the answer. Fourteen albums in, Of Montreal sound just as mercurial as ever, and it feels like Barnes is simply more concerned with discovering who he is after a tumultuous year rather than trying to define who his listeners are. This is a record about identity, and it feels playful, like a kid describing a dream using Lego - it's not really cohesive, but it's a fun exercise in pastel-coloured abstraction.

Let's Relate throws you. It's a glam-disco opener that might seem too broad for many, but the genius lies in the lyrics. Broad strokes transform into efficiency and honesty, and it's hard to maintain cynicism in the face of such brazen humanity. It's Different For Girls slips, but again, a strong well-written message carries the weight when the song craft wanes. Just when you start to get restless and consider dialling up Hissing Fauna... they blow everything open with a great Supergrass homage called Gratuitous Abysses, a compact, fizzy little number that sounds like it arrived late, drunk and not the least bit apologetic from a completely different record. From there it's an undulating road through funk, guitar rock, and a solemn march into the sunset that leaves us with the same question we began with.