Kevin Barnes
Kevin Barnes | |
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Kindercore, Bar/None |
Kevin Lawrence Barnes
of Montreal
of Montreal consists of various musicians, with Barnes being the only continuous member. The group has recorded 18 studio albums, beginning with
Lyrical style
Barnes's writing has encompassed many styles over the years. Of Montreal's first album, Cherry Peel, dealt mainly with personal issues of unrequited love, as in the songs "Baby" or "Montreal"; or humorous mundane situations, as in "Tim I Wish You Were Born a Girl". Barnes's style then shifted to storytelling, often involving dialogues as in "Good Morning Mr. Edminton" (from the album Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse), or fictional characters, such as Rose Robert or Jacques Lamure, and even a fictional mythological creature, the Efeblum.[5]
The albums
By 2004, Barnes was starting to revert to more personal lyrics, even incorporating the names of familiars and using them as characters, including Barnes's daughter Alabee, in "So Begins Our Alabee" and "Miss Blonde Your Papa Is Failing", and Eva, an acquaintance and resident of Athens, Georgia, in "Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider".[6]
Barnes has fluctuated between writing personal and fictional lyrics, explaining:
I think if you only write about yourself and your personal life it feels maybe a bit narcissistic, but I think it's inevitable that there will always be some aspect of your personal life or your personal emotions coming through, even if you write about something that would seem like fiction.[7]
Barnes's lyrics, though mostly concerned with dark themes, often portray a certain fondness for:
- French literature, the works of Jean Genet, Guillaume Apollinaire or Georges Bataille in particular.
- Avant-garde cinema. Phantom of Liberty receives a mention in "Lysergic Bliss", Jaromil Jireš' Valerie and Her Week of Wonders in "St. Exquisite Confessions" and Wong Kar-waiin "Rapture Rapes the Muses"
- Didoin "So Begins Our Alabee", "Cato as a Pun")
Despite some lyrical references to drugs, Barnes says that
On stage
Barnes has consistently attempted to combine a love of theater, comedy, and music, often resulting in interludes between songs—
He has performed in unusual circumstances, such as while astride a white horse, and while completely nude.[7]
Other projects
- A Pollinaire Rave is a comedy tour by Kevin Barnes, David Barnes, and Kevin Barnes's ex-wife, Nina. A CD with the same name was sold, and five of the seven songs on the EP became songs on the Of Montreal album Satanic Panic in the Attic.
- Barnes contributed to Bright Eyes' album Letting Off the Happiness, playing keyboard on "The Difference in the Shades" and performing the background vocals on "A Poetic Retelling of an Unfortunate Seduction".
Personal life
In 2003, Barnes married Nina Aimee Grøttland, a graphic artist and former Ethnobabes member. They separated in December 2013.[10] They have one daughter, Alabee, born in Oslo on December 29, 2004. As of 2020, Barnes's partner is Christina Schneider, the singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the pop group Locate S,1.[11]
In 2020, Barnes "officially" came out as
References
- ^ "BMI | Repertoire Search". Archived from the original on April 6, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
- ^ "Polyvinyl Records". Polyvinylrecords.com.
- ^ "Freewave Lucifer fck, by of Montreal". Bandcamp.
- ^ "Freewave Lucifer f<ck f^ck f>ck". polyvinylrecords.com.
- ^ "Of Montreal". Bar/None Records.
- ^ Deusner, Stephen. "No Hisses". Memphis Flyer.
- ^ a b c Pagano, Weston (April 29, 2014). "Lousy With Sylvianbriar is Anything But: A Conversation with of Montreal". Transverso. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
- ^ Carriere, Mike (November 19, 2007). "Interview with Kevin Barnes". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
- ^ Barnes, Kevin [@xxofMontrealxx] (November 9, 2019). "I regret giving Georgie Fruit a race+gender that I had no perspective on+for using the term She-Male. I now realize it was an insensitive portrayal of a marginalized group of people that I had no biz representing. I apologize 2anyone who has been hurt by that. GF is dead+🖤ing it" (Tweet). Retrieved February 16, 2021 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Q&A: Kevin Barnes On Of Montreal's Next Album Aureate Gloom". Stereogum.com. October 2, 2014.
- ^ Barnes, Kevin (April 30, 2020). "Navigating Work and Romance with Of Montreal and Locate S,1". Talkhouse.com. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
Christina Schneider is the brain behind the pop project Locate S,1; Kevin Barnes is the frontman of the legendary indie pop band Of Montreal. The two are romantic partners and creative collaborators
- ^ Barnes, Kevin [@xxofMontrealxx] (August 8, 2020). "btw I'm bi- always have been💜" (Tweet). Archived from the original on August 8, 2020. Retrieved November 26, 2020 – via Twitter.
- ^ Barnes, Kevin [@xxofMontrealxx] (June 25, 2020). "THREAD 9/9 Soooo....I want to officially 'come out' publicly and say with pride that I am a Nonbinary/Genderqueer person!🏳️⚧️❤️💙💜🖤💛💚🤎" (Tweet). Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved November 26, 2020 – via Twitter.