Album Review: Montaigne – Complex

Known for her quirky theatrics and outstanding vocals, art-pop superstar Montaigne’s second record Complex far from disappoints.

There’s no holding back as the noisy and ruffled opener, Change, kicks off with the rapping drumbeat of a marching band and slowly grows into a full-blown fun, cheeky cheerleader pre-chorus. It then continues to rise and grow into a stellar theatrical track. This style is what Montaigne does extremely well, utilising her highly dynamic range and overtly expressive tone to create a multi-layered story that balances perfectly between a traditional pop song and a dramatic monologue. The droning piano line humming underneath the chorus of For Your Love sounds like something straight out of an '80s cult classic movie, stirring nostalgia as it whirs and dips. On Losing My Mind we are treated to more electro-poppy goodness with heavy stabbing synths, a disco-dancing bass and shimmying drum beats straight out of the discotheque, which are heavily contrasted with mentally exhausting lyrics. The Dying Song is heartbreakingly hilarious as orchestral elements mix with hip hop-styled beats and sweet harmonies. Cathartic and open, Montaigne reveals the deepest parts of herself with candid lyrics about loneliness in the emotive Showyourself, comprised solely of a soft vocal paired with an eerily haunting piano line.

A rush of electric guitar rips through the soft air for Please You. It stabs through the tranquillity of the previous tracks before it heads straight back into soft strings and angelic harmonies, rising abruptly to a vigorous and inspiring chorus that overwhelms the senses, like a wave of sound crashing to the shore, then rolling back out to sea. The thematics of the album centre around some heavy, real-world experiences such as an abusive relationship in Stockholm Syndrome (“It always feels like something is wrong/But you’re my only one and this is where I belong”), the lyrics swaddled in mechanical clanging and choppy synths that add to a sense of dysfunction and destruction.

“Every day I wake up and measure the skin around my waist/Is this all I am good for?” is the opening line of the candid Is This All I Am Good For?. The song is real and raw, and sung alongside the sweet taps of a xylophone – it’s an uncomfortably stark proclamation of a very real and unapologetic feud with one's body. 

Ready picks the mood back up for a final curtain call – the finger-clicks grab you instantly before the soaring vocals hook you in as Montaigne reaches the highest of highs within this anthemic and powerful song.

Blending theatrics with emotion perfectly, Montaigne's melodic pop tones create a gut-wrenching contrast between wanting to dance and wanting to cry. It’s an ode to Montaigne’s maturity to be able to write without metaphor around things so often trivialised and turn it into a gorgeous journey of self-discovery, determination and growth.