For their latest album, Of Montreal retreat from the edge of camp and colourful pop, a place they were starting to get a little too comfortable in – there was even a veiled threat they might mutate into a form of an underground Scissor Sisters. Paralytic Stalks is Kevin Barnes throwing himself into a giddier mix of shambolic glam, electro pop and distressed signals – often all at once. It is also the group’s best effort since Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?.

Barnes is a loose canon when it comes to music, and when you catch glimpses of his soul within the mass of ensuing mayhem it means more. “You’re the only human I believe in,” softly sung within We Will Commit Wolf Murder for instance – it builds depth to the record. The streaks of Aladdin Sane and other such theatrical giants are sprayed across most tracks, yet there is often a lush foray into classical instrumentation. Hear Malefic Dowery in its acoustic swing, whistling flutes and exposed heart.

There are extremes here – the near on eight-minutes of experimental sounds on the difficult to get through Exorcsimic Breeding Knife is such an example. But overall it swings to the inventive (with tunes) rather than the inventive (without tunes). And at times it blows on all cylinders – in fact, we are wailing within a few minutes of the record on the rock-heavy Gelid Ascent.

And check Barnes’ flailing vocal on the electro, piano trickling and pumping Spiteful Intervention, the chorus delivered like a line from a villain on the Broadway stage. But there is enough noise and spewing background mess to keep the song on the side of realism rather than over-coloured dramatics (which indeed goes for most the set). Of Montreal have found their way back to a more meaningful form of chaotic pop – and are all the better for it.

-Brian Bentner-