The musical references on of Montreal’s new album Aethermead are all over the place, which means they’re not obtrusive. I hear techniques that have been used by The Beatles, Steely Dan, The Beach Boys and The Left Banke, but that might just mean singer, songwriter and of Montreal mastermind Kevin Barnes favors a late-1960s musical reality that works for him. Much like the songs on one of the band’s most accomplished albums, 2010’s False Priest, the compositions Barnes wrote for Aethermead sound like what The Beach Boys might have done if they’d elaborated on the idea behind 1977’s The Beach Boys Love You by folding some Pet Sounds lushness back into the mix. Like, say, Brian Wilson or Paul McCartney, Barnes writes about himself and his romantic and spiritual problems throughout Aethermead. The result is a relationship album that comes with deluxe chord changes and lyrics that seem enigmatic until you figure out Barnes is singing about himself, or a version of his persona. The music is rarefied and enigmatic on the album’s “Hack It Up” and “Lacan in the Family,” which skirt brilliance. Aethermead is the work of a true pop experimentalist — we need more of them.
8 p.m. at The Mil at Cannery Hall
1 Cannery Row
