Of Montreal touring in support of album crafted during the pandemic

Sep. 7—Kevin Barnes never takes the same path in making a record.

It's what keeps it fresh.

As the mastermind behind the alternative rock outfit, of Montreal, Barnes got some extra time to work on the current album thanks to the pandemic.

"Usually, I make a record and we go on tour in support of the record," Barnes explains. "With this album, it feels like there is a big space of time in between the previous ones. It feels like a chapter is closing and the tour will help create that perception."

Of Montreal released "Freewave Lucifer ..." on July 29. The previous records "I Feel Safe with You ..." and "Ur Fun" were released in 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Barnes says the band wasn't able to tour behind the last few albums.

"This is the quickest I've jumped into songwriting," he says. "Every single record has had that division. This time I continued to write since touring was off the table."

Barnes drew inspiration for the new collection from various forms of media — great fictions such as Clive Barker's "Imajica," Andrei Tarkovsky's sci-fi classic "Solaris," and Jean-Luc Godard's "Alphaville," fantasy author Ursula K. Le Guin, realist painter Edward Hopper and cinéaste Pedro Almodóvar. Barnes says the record came to life during a period when the flow of time was difficult to grasp for folks across the globe, and he had to find commonality with the plotlines that emerged.

He describes the album as, "Paranoia/isolation/self-terror/terror-self, the failure spectacle, the take down, sex as a means of identity denial, the kaleidoscopic world of regret and shame, the liberation of mockery, adolescent nightmares reborn and reimagined, torture echolocation with noneventual silence."

Barnes says during the writing process at his house and in the studio, he was able to find different software instruments and plug-ins.

"These were all fun to experiment with," Barnes says. "I'm interested in doing something different every time. This new avenue allowed me the space to experiment and create something new."

With 18 albums within the catalog, Barnes says putting together a set has gotten easier over the years.

But on this tour, Barnes is taking a different approach.

"For the first time, I'm thinking about what I want to play and what I feel most excited about," he says. "We have crowd-pleasers in the set, but we're also going to play songs that we've never performed before. I want the night to be challenging for myself and the band, meanwhile having the audience entertained with the stage show. Luckily, we've had a lot of consistency with the theatrics of the show. My brother is one of the main people and the two others are childhood friends. We collaborate well together."

Of Montreal

With Locate S,1

WHEN: 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 12

WHERE: Sister, 407 Central SW

HOW MUCH: $20-$25, plus fees, at eventbrite.com