[Cover photo credit to Shervin Lainez]
Kevin Barnes (he/she/they) has appeared on countless stages, TV screens, dancefloors, and more, and has been making a political impact in their local community and beyond for nearly three decades. Their project of Montreal has announced new studio album Lady On The Cusp due out May 17th, 2024 on Polyvinyl Record Co.
The new collection is “a rapturous synthesis of most everything of Montreal has ever done” but also marks the last music released via Athens, Georgia as they’re now delighted to be living in southern Vermont.
Written and recorded in the months when Barnes and partner, musician Christina Schneider, prepared their move, Lady On The Cusp combines a “reckoning with the past” with “hopeful glimpses of the future.”
Lead single “Yung Hearts Bleed Free” is out now alongside an official video. The Bootsy Collins-influenced ode to Barnes’ heroes celebrates “freedom and fetish.”
Barnes explains that the song was,:
Influenced by the Leos Carax film “Boy Meets Girl”, Bootsy’s Rubber Band, and my recent purchase of a Yamaha TG33 and a Kawai K1M. I wanted to make a strutting, sexy little vamp of a song that just kind of chugged along and felt relaxed and playful and free.
Director Madeline Babuka Black shares about the video:
There’s a certain 60’s/ experimental spirit to Barnes’ songwriting that I love and by using analog techniques of paper cut out and direct on film animation I pay homage to that. The paper cut out animations and color palette of the film were deeply inspired by Larry Jordan’s experimental animations, most notably his 1968 film “Our Lady of the Sphere.”
US Headline Tour Dates
5/31: Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre #
6/01: Chattanooga, TN @ Barrelhouse Ballroom #
6/03: Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts #
6/04: Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere #
6/05: Boston, MA @ The Sinclair #
6/06: Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom #
6/07: Rochester, NY @ Water Street Music Hall #
6/08: Detroit, MI @ The Magic Stick #
6/09: Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall #
6/10: St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall #
6/11: Wichita, KS @ Wave (Indoor) # %
6/12: Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre # %
6/14: Jackson Hole, WY @ Center For The Arts %
6/15: Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Hall %
6/16: Seattle, WA @ Neumos %
6/17: Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom %
6/18: Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall %
6/19: Roseville, CA @ Goldfield Trading Post %
6/20: Berkeley, CA @ UC Theatre %
6/21: Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent Theater %
6/22: Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom %
6/23: Albuquerque, NM @ Sister %
6/25: Austin, TX @ Mohawk %
6/26: Dallas, TX @ Trees %
6/27: Springfield, MO @ The Regency Live %
6/28: Nashville, TN @ The Exit In %
6/29: Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse %
6/30: Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle %
7/01: Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club %
7/02: Asheville, NC @ Grey Eagle %
# w/ Godcaster
% w/ Tele Novella
