Despite possessing some of Of Montreal’s most accessible material to date, False Priest, the tenth full-length offering from quirky auteur Kevin Barnes, isn’t uninspired nor is it predictable.

An exquisitely produced album filled with great ideas, the brazenly brilliant Barnes has proven himself to be an exceptional songwriter yet again, sounding more comfortable than ever in his wiggy Prince-ly falsetto, as he continues to push the limits with his increasingly purple prose.

Littered with wonderfully weird surreal perversions, with just one example being the “dragons raping unicorns eating baby meat” of Like a Tourist, False Priest will prove itself a record indie-pop listeners either love or hate, depending on how much of Barnes’s bonkers antics they can handle.

Barnes’ funk leanings are reinforced by collaborative efforts, both on the production end with musical savant Jon Brion and in spotlighted duets with rising R&B superstars Janelle Monáe and Solange Knowles who succeed in adding some stomping sass to Barnes’ fractured perspective.

A loved-up, witty, wordy confection of an album, False Priest is a new high for this long-running yet just-peaking musical explosion.

Review Score: 8/10