In interviews leading up to the release of ‘Skeletal Lamping,’ of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes explained that he had named the album after a hunting technique which involves shining a large light on area in an effort to scare all of the animals from their hiding spots.’ He would approach the songwriting process by attempting to leave no idea behind, bringing every possibility to the forefront where he could analyze why they exist in his head in the first place.’
As a result, ‘Skeletal Lamping’ is exactly what you would expect from an accomplished and unpredictable musician like Barnes who has pledged to remove the filter completely.’ The album is a 55-minute purge of his brain; at best it is packed tightly with great ideas, and at worst just plain baffling and over the top.
With the exception of ‘Touched Something’s Hollow,’ every song is a stream of consciousness within itself. Utilizing this song writing method, Barnes shifts his focus to individual moments, not the album as a whole, or the song as a whole for that matter. A hook will surprise you out of nowhere, and then disappear just as you get locked into its groove. The album is a testament to Barnes’ infinitely deep well of creativity but at the same time the sheer amount of ideas that are jammed into each song ultimately exhausts the listener. ‘Skeletal Lamping’ sounds much more like a psychological exercise than a musical vision.
What made 2007’s ‘Hissing Fauna’ so astounding was how cohesive it was. The songs were fully developed, and flowed. It flowed so well that you had to keep your eye on what track you were on. This same effect occurs on ‘Skeletal Lamping.’ The difference however is that you were able to connect with the ideas on ‘Hissing Fauna’ because they ran their course. Barnes’ retained his mastery of pop hooks while filtering carefully his loveable and out of left field schizophrenic twists. Because the balance was so well thought out, he ended up creating an album that was original and unlike anything he had done before.
The ‘all or nothing’ idea approach affects the lyrics as well.’ On ‘Hissing Fauna,’ Barnes documented his own feelings, which was new for him. Many of the songs sounded like they were straight from a diary, which explained a few awkward moments as well as some of his most emotionally devastating. Here, Barnes writes extensively both as himself and from the perspective of Georgie Fruit, a character that was conceived during the 12-minute ‘The Past is a Grotesque Animal’ from the last album. Georgie Fruit is a black man in his 40s, who has undergone multiple sex changes and played in a funk rock band named Arousal in the 1970s. I’ll let that sink in quick.
Having this dual perspective to write lyrics from adds to the confusion immensely.’ One thing that’s clear is that Barnes has sex on the mind. Here are a few lyrical examples: ‘I want you to be / My pleasure puss / I wanna’ know what it’s like to be inside you,’ from ‘Plastis Wafers,’ and ‘We can do it softcore if you want / But you should know I take it both ways,’ from ‘From Our Elegant Caste.” The sexual imagery takes things to a whole new level with the first line from ‘St. Exquisite’s Confessions,’ a lyric on such a level that I can’t even include it on here.’
Honestly, I don’t know what to make of this. ‘Skeletal Lamping’ has many a great moment, but these moments come and go so rapidly that they can’t grab you to the full potential.’ Even after repeated listens, there’s just so much to take in. Its ambition is its biggest flaw and what’ll make it stand out in the end in of Montreal’s discography.
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