Kevin Lawrence Barnes (born May 30, 1974) is the singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter for the indie rock group of Montreal, part of the Elephant 6 Collective.
Barnes started the band on their own and, although providing several stories as to the origin of the name, is said to have named it after a failed romance with a woman from Montreal.
The group has recorded fifteen full-length albums, and numerous EPs and 7" singles.
Their brother, David Barnes, is an artist and has designed most of the band's artwork for albums since the release of The Gay Parade.
of Montreal
of Montreal consists of various musicians, with Barnes being the only continuous member.
The group has recorded sixteen studio albums, beginning with Cherry Peel, and, most recently, I Feel Safe With You, Trash, which was released on March 5, 2021 on Sybaritic Peer.
While melodic pop has always been Barnes's primary vehicle, their style has managed to transform significantly since the 1997 release of Cherry Peel.
The acoustic tendencies of early albums gradually transformed into a more electronic, funk, and overall eclectic sound.
One of the features which often appears in Barnes's songwriting is their penchant for composing upbeat melodies to gloomy, cryptic lyrics and morose subject matter.
At different periods in the band's career they have dealt with subjects both personal and fictional.
Barnes is considered a prolific lyricist with a tendency to employ unusual words and phrases, alongside complicated wordplay.
Lyrics
thumb|left|Barnes and bandmates on stage in San Francisco, 2007 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".
Their style then shifted to story-telling, 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; or even fictional mythological creature, like the Efeblum.
The albums The Gay Parade, The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy, and the aforementioned Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies are constructed as concept albums.
By 2004, though, Barnes was starting to revert to more personal lyrics, even incorporating the names of the people close to them and using them as characters in their own songs:
Their daughter Alabee, in "So Begins Our Alabee" and "Miss Blonde Your Papa Is Failing".
Eva, an acquaintance and resident of Athens, Georgia, in "Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider".
Kevin Barnes has fluctuated between writing personal and fictional lyrics over the course of their career, in part because the negative reviews that their first album received deterred them from writing about themself for a period of time.
They explained:"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."
Their lyrics, though mostly concerned with dark themes, often portray a certain fondness for:
French literature, especially the works of Jean Genet, Guillaume Apollinaire or Georges Bataille;
Avant-garde cinema, mentioning Luis Buñuel's Phantom of Liberty in "Lysergic Bliss", Jaromil Jireš' Valerie and Her Week of Wonders in "St. Exquisite Confessions", or Wong Kar-wai in "Rapture Rapes the Muses";
Greek mythology – "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse", "Rapture Rapes the Muses" (with references to "antediluvian Troy"), or their frequent use of antonomasia (Petrarch and Dido in "So Begins Our Alabee", "Cato as a Pun").
Despite common assumption, Barnes does not use recreational drugs or psychedelics to aid in their writing, composing, or recording.
On stage
With of Montreal, Barnes has always tried to cross the bridge between their love of theater, comedy, and music, often resulting in interludes between songs—skits, slow-motion sword fights and surreal interaction between band members.
Barnes performs as many different alter egos or personas, once including a glam rock alter ego, Georgie Fruit, first mentioned in "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal."
They described Georgie Fruit as a black man in his forties who has undergone multiple sex changes, and this is likely the persona they retroactively described as "very problematic" in 2020.
In 2019, Barnes "killed" Georgie Fruit, tweeting that they regret giving Georgie Fruit a race and gender they had no perspective on, and saying "I now realize it was an insensitive portrayal of a marginalized group of people that I had no [business] representing."
Barnes has performed in unusual circumstances, such as while astride a white horse, and while completely nude.
Other projects
A Pollinaire Rave is a comedy tour by Kevin Barnes, their brother David Barnes, and ex-wife, Nina.
A CD with the same name was sold, and five of the seven songs on the EP became songs on the Montreal album Satanic Panic in the Attic.
They also played keyboard on "The Difference in the Shades", and did the background vocals on "A Poetic Retelling of an Unfortunate Seduction" on Bright Eyes' album Letting Off the Happiness.
Personal life
In 2003, Barnes married Nina Aimee Grøttland, a graphic artist and former Ethnobabes member.
They separated in December 2013.
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.
Barnes "officially" came out in 2020 as bisexual, non-binary, and genderqueer, and uses she/her, he/him, and they/them pronouns.
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