"You look like a playground to me, player," a lyric from Of Montreal's forthcoming False Priest, is one of the myriad ways frontman Kevin Barnes keeps turning heads. Aside from an unpredictable stage show that can involve face paint and coffins filled with shaving cream, this time around, Barnes takes his band's aforementioned new album in a slightly different direction — one that makes Of Montreal's orchestral glam-pop thump like nothing before.
Augmented by studio whiz Jon Brion (Fiona Apple, Kanye West, P.T. Anderson movies) and two of the real voices of R&B/soul today, Solange Knowles and Janelle Monae, the resulting album heads in the R&B-leaning directions of recent Dirty Projectors and a couple of double-letter outfits, jj and the XX. Barnes cites A Tribe Called Quest and Dr. Dre as influences as well.
As far as what will be on display at Respectable Street on Sunday night, it's probably going to involve a more stripped-down approach than the full-blown Of Montreal experience. Fire Zuave, Barnes' cousin Chuck Andrews' band, is the likely backing for this rare solo date.
