Almost two years after the release of their 19th studio album Lady of the Cusp, of Montreal have returned to announce their latest record aethermead (arriving June 5 via Polyvinyl), which Kevin Barnes and co. have previewed today with the new single “When.”
The track is a galvanizing, hypnosis-inducing trip as Barnes airs out their frustrations through false sexual bravado. “‘When’ is more a song about yearning, sadness, confusion, frustration….. than it is a song about having sex,” they explained in a release. “Clearly all of the things listed in the verses are the things I actually desire.”
The things in question: wanting to be friends with their subject’s friends, desiring emotional connection and also not wanting to compete with “that nepo-baby” — of Montreal are so back, y’all.
“When” is as funny as it is sincere (a skill that the band have balanced so well in their decades-long career), evidenced by Barnes’s conclusion of the track: “It’s much easier to say ‘When can I fuck you again?’ than it is to say ‘When will you be loving, affectionate, and emotionally generous and make me feel whole again?'”
Check out the visualizer for “When” below.
aethermead:
Already DreamingWanting on AirListen to Music and CryMy Zhe ZheTake the FormWhenHack it UpLacan in the FamilyHaving a MomentFrom the Front of YouTo Nothing’s RewardNow We Cringe at the ThoughtDismissal Mosaics