Kevin Barnes and his psych rock outfit OF MONTREAL report back with a quick follow-up to last year’s Aureate Gloom. Innocence Reaches already marks his 14th full-length release and it is set for a release via Polyvinyl on August the 12th. And like the first single It’s Different For Girls already shows, it’s a surprisingly poppy affair as Mr. Barnes was highly interested in having contemporary musical influences as inspirtation for this release:
‘Forever I’ve been detached from current music. I got into this bubble of only being in some other time period. I came up picking apart the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and symphonic pieces. But last year, I was hearing Jack Ü, Chairlift, Arca, and others, thinking about low end and sound collage. It was an extra layer to geek out on.’
The latest single of OF MONTREAL now also comes with a colourful music video and a crazy dance party that is an ode to diversity and the feeling of living your life the way you think you should live. Especially in the course of the recent Orlando shootings (the clip was produced prior to them) the Stephen Winter-directed video is a strong statement for not slowing down with your individual lifestyle. Barnes on the concept:
‘The ‘girls’ I’m singing about in the song aren’t exclusively of the biologically female variety. It’s more of a paean to all the wild-hearted counter culture groups of our species. In a way I feel like most of us transition back and forth, psychologically, between female and male and that sexual identity is a fluid concept.’
Director Winter adds even more thoughts on the video by stating:
‘Today we stand in a new era of LGBTQ affirmation AND affirmation of females and their unique struggle. Homophobia is on its way to being done. Love is going to win. It won’t be an easy road, but we will see this achieved in our lifetime.
‘We need ‘it’s different for girls’ now. We need Kevin Barnes’ remarkable embrace of Female Joy, Queer Joy and Non-Judgment – now. We are in this together. We can still have fun and heal. Right here, right now; this little gender non-conforming kid is dancing their legs off and feeling total acceptance. How do you talk to your kids about what’s going on in the world right now? Show them this video – and talk!
‘Being gay or a gender non-conformist can be hard but sometimes your biggest obstacle is your own fears. The video for ‘it’s different for girls’ ultimately says, ‘I love being gay,’ ‘I love being a girl,’ and ‘I love being who I am.’ Statements you never hear or say out loud enough.’
—