“Paralytic Stalks” an intimate look into frontman

Carlos Sucre-Parra/Columnist

Kevin Barnes is an immensely challenging artist to follow. While there are certain aspects of Montreal fans have come to expect both in their records and live performances, every hint at a possible new release always leaves the followers with a nagging sense of uncertainty, a bittersweet prospect of what is to come.

This, in itself, is a big reflection of Barnes’ persona, as his lyrics tend to reveal his most intimate thoughts, and the turn of a verse or a simple chord change completely alter the mood of a song—and sometimes the album itself.

“Paralytic Stalks” is a fantastic example of this, presenting what could best be described as controlled chaos: an amalgam of carefully crafted pop songs, paired with distorted sounds and landscapes, leading to dada-esque moments of total loss in a sea of noise, before reigning the song back into a tight melody, making this one of the most exciting records of Montreal has released to date.

The starting track, “Gelid Ascent,” presents a reverb-heavy melody that draws back from ‘90s rock angst and offers an early look into the record’s themes of solitude, loss, tragedy and growth.

The lyrics, mostly lost behind a massive wall of guitars, beg for the presence of someone no longer present, showing a rather melancholic look into mending broken relationships and ending in media res, yet immediately continuing the themes in the next track, “Spiteful Intervention.”

“It’s sad that we need a tragedy to occur to gain a fresh perspective in our lives,” Barnes said, kicking into a bass-driven jam where he rails against humanity all the while having multiple key changes, creating a sense of instability, a dour sensation of disaster that permeates throughout.

This constant feeling of doom presented by Barnes is what ultimately makes of Montreal so attractive, a rather miasmic entity that never departs the music, despite the uplifting nature of the song. With each track, Barnes finds a new clue about himself, life and humanity, and every crescendo often feels like a massive celebration, a cathartic burst of instrumentation that injects a grain of hope in the sea of bitterness he often portrays. And while this formula might become repetitive under any other artist, Barnes adds enough variety to the record where no two tracks feel the same.

His sense of personal confusion, his conclusion that he has “lost the thread of being human,” does not reflect as wallowing in depression for lack of better subject matter (Adele), but rather an opportunity for soul-searching and personal growth.

“There is no economy of drama,” Barnes said, and it shows brilliantly in “Exorcismic Breeding Knife,” the eighth track of the record, a disjointed, frenzied track, where the overwhelming lack of structure puts Barnes’ anguish into perspective.

Part mystery movie sound track, part controlled demolition of a man’s sanity, the song best represents the latter end of the album, with much longer tracks that lyrically portray a stream of consciousness, leading into a much-needed improvement, a resolution for his emotional ailments, albeit only temporary in nature, as shown in “Authentic Pyrrhic Remission,” intertwining a relatively happy melody in a torrent of syncopated strings, leaving a lingering sense of dread to follow.

“Paralytic Stalks” offers a brief sight into its creator’s mind, and often feels like therapy session, observing the fluctuations of a single man’s ID and his personal monsters.

Yet, the intimate nature of its lyrics and attractive instrumentation keeps pulling the listener back once more. It only seems fitting, then, in its contrast between the beginning and ending track, starting with overtly aggressive tones, and ending, in not a whimper, but rather a sigh of resignation with the world, and most importantly, with himself.

 

Radiate Reviews is a weekly music review column. Email at carlos.sucreparra@fiusm.com.