New Frontiers: Sexuality, Identity & EDM

Launched in the mid-'90s, of Montreal has long been associated with the wonkier side of indiedom - Barnes traversing such styles as vintage psychedelia, glam-rock and funk. Of Montreal's last foray, 2015's Aureate Gloom, made amid Barnes' (amicable) separation from bassist wife Nina Grottland, referenced New York art-rock. But, in Innocence Reaches, he's created something more free and festive - electronic dance music.

Barnes has "dabbled in" synth-pop before - initially on 2005's The Sunlandic Twins. Yet, with Innocence Reaches - cut in Paris - he's consciously responded to contemporary EDM, citing Jack U and techno-type Arca as inspirations. "I've always liked dance music and always had fun working with that style of production - doing drum programming and layering synthesisers," Barnes says. In fact, Innocence Reaches is a sophisticated - and hybridised - nu-disco LP. Barnes deems it "an esoteric record" even for him.

"I can understand how it might seem strange for someone to think of a man writing a song that could be on some level considered an attempt at writing some sort of feminist anthem."

If in the DJ scene the term "EDM" now carries a corporate stigma, underground genres like house again dominant, then Barnes is blissfully unaware - its application to Innocence Reaches came from his label. "I don't even know the difference between techno and house - I'm not that deeply involved in it," he acknowledges. "I just like some electronic dance music. I'm not like a connoisseur on any level of it. I just think some of it sounds cool - some of it sounds forward."

Equally eyebrow-raising is the album's lead single, It's Different For Girls - Barnes' ironic critique of female stereotypes and gender essentialism. "It's different for girls," he sings. "They're not numbed by oppression." The song might serve as his HeForShe pledge. "I have an 11-year-old daughter [Alabee], so I think on some level that influenced me and changed my perception about what the female experience is like," Barnes explains. "I can understand how it might seem strange for someone to think of a man writing a song that could be on some level considered an attempt at writing some sort of feminist anthem. But that wasn't really my aim. It's really just musings, or observation, on the subject and definitely not trying to write the definitive feminist anthem. It's just one man's opinion about that topic."

Different again, the video celebrates inclusivity - depicting the LGBTQ ball subculture, Barnes resplendent in drag. Increasingly interested in gender identity issues, Barnes introduced his Georgie Fruit alter-ego, a black transexual funk-rock star, on 2007's conceptual Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?. He assumes a manifestation of this fluid "persona" in of Montreal's disruptively theatrical live shows (last seen Down Under in 2009), describing it as "a very liberated version of myself - a more extreme version." "I've been doing a lot more drag recently in video shoots and photo shoots - and the next tour will be very drag-heavy," Barnes reveals. "I think it's a great activity for people to explore their sexuality, their gender identity, and broaden their view of themselves. Sometimes you need some sort of physical representation of that. So dressing up and getting into this character can be very therapeutic and enriching and fulfilling in a different sort of way."