Kevin Barnes is back at it again with a new slew of O.M. tracks entitled False Priest (pictured) to be released on September 14th. Last week they released (what we're assuming to be) the leadoff single from the album, "Coquet Coquette", on their website, and today they've brought us a second track, "Hydra Fancies" featured on Stereogum.
According to Barnes, the new album has a "thick R&B influence" and features some modern purveyors of diva-dom like Janelle Monae and Solange Knowles (little sis of the other Knowles we know so well).
While it seems plausible to think "R&B influence" means more electronic influence in this day and age, False Priest actually features the return of organic instrumentation – live drums, strings, etc. – in place of the bulk of electronic instrumentation Barnes has been quite fond of for the past few albums.
Either way, both these tracks compliment each other quite nicely. Both are a little more traditionally structured and focused than the bulk of tracks from the 2008 LP, Skeletal Lamping, in which "musical schizophrenia" could be an apt description of the overall sound. Barnes is still funky and charismatic as ever, channeling his bite sized funk brethren (i.e. Prince, Bowie) at every turn and doing a great job of it in the process. Check em out, see if you're feeling it too…
This article appears in Jul 1-7, 2010.