Barnes was the only member of the group prior to their relocation to Athens, Georgia. Kevin Barnes founded of Montreal, allegedly naming it for a failed romance with a woman from Montreal, Quebec. Throughout its existence, of Montreal's musical style has evolved considerably and drawn inspiration from 1960s psychedelic pop acts. The band is identified as part of the Elephant 6 collective. It was founded by frontperson Kevin Barnes in 1996, named after a failed romance between Barnes and a woman "of Montreal". Album DescriptionOf Montreal is an American indie pop band from Athens, Georgia. See More Your browser does not support the audio element. He just needs to make records this catchy and powerful, and he’ll always have a happy batch of followers. The combination of intelligent and punchy songs, the sympathetic production, and Lerche’s winning vocals make this a strong follow-up to Heartbeat Radio and further proof that Lerche doesn’t need to mess around trying different things to keep people interested.
Having said that, there still are a few sonic tricks and surprises to be found (no spoilers) and the production is far from cookie-cutter standard.
It’s a trade worth making when the craftsman is as talented as Lerche is. Lerche sounds confident and calmly focused throughout, delivering a craftsman-like performance that may lack a bit in thrills, but pays off in emotional impact and tunefulness.
Sometimes channeling his inner Nilsson (as on the opening “Ricochet”), sometimes smoothly rocking in a modern fashion (on the peppy "Go Right Ahead"), the record mostly keeps to a middle ground of calmly, brainy, and deeply felt balladry, though there are moments that feel radio-ready (as on "Private Caller") and even a little bit epic (on the seesawing ballad "Tied Up to the Tide"). It’s just 40 minutes of Lerche’s unadorned vocals, his always witty lyrics, and some great guitar pop. Working with longtime musical partner Kato Ådland, and with production by Nicolas Vernhes, the album isn’t flashy and doesn’t have an angle. That trend continues on 2011’s self-titled album.
After a long string of records where exploring different genres seemed almost as important as the songs themselves, Sondre Lerche’s 2009 album Heartbeat Radio was the first record in awhile that felt like it was a true musical expression and not some crazy experiment.
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