From Ocelot:
What has Kevin Barnes done now? For nearly three decades, psychedelic pop’s preeminent provocateur has kept the oft-staid world of indie rock on its toes with a relentless progression of improbable leaps, from of Montreal’s stylistically vast oeuvre to its ecstatic live shows. On Wednesday, June 19, Barnes turns their creative energy to a new canvas… beer. More specifically: Always in Trouble, a 5.5% dry-hopped peach gose concocted in collaboration with Ocelot Brewing.
Always in Trouble draws inspiration from of Montreal’s latest opus, Lady On The Cusp, released a month ago via longtime home Polyvinyl Records. The album is the band’s 19th full-length and its last to be recorded in Athens, Georgia, where Barnes famously lived and made music since 1996. Its 10 strange and glorious songs, each layered piece upon piece almost entirely by Barnes, snapshot a psyche in transition. It sounds at times as if Barnes – preparing a relocation to Vermont as Lady On The Cusp was being written and performed – is reflecting on and nodding to the past 26 years in Athens (now a “sad commuter hell,” per propulsive R&B odyssey “Soporific Cell”) and the 18 preceding of Montreal LPs produced there. Always in Trouble was conceived as something similar: a slightly sweet yet slightly tart farewell to the Peach State.
Both are defined by juxtaposition. On Lady On The Cusp, squelching dissonance and hooky pop bliss frequently coexist within the same song. Or in a track like “Pi$$ Pi$$” – from which Always in Trouble draws its name – solemn introspection is given a floor-rattling dance beat. Glam rock, psych, electronica, funk, folk – they all somehow form a cohesive whole across 35 minutes. Likewise, Always in Trouble’s qualities might seem at odds upon first blush: salty, sour, hoppy, fruity. But the brewers of Lower Saxony were truly onto something when they combined high-saline water from the Gose River with the tanginess of lactobacillus-inoculated ale at least 600 years ago.
Constructed from pilsner malt and complimentary charges of flaked wheat and malted oats, our contemporary gose gains its brackish quality from mineral-rich Himalayan pink salt. The tartness is bright, clean, and just slightly amplified by the presence of peaches. Its stone fruit character, meanwhile, is harmonized with kettle additions and a gentle dry-hop of Wai-iti, a New Zealand varietal that brings its own peach and ripe apricot notes, plus a beguiling herbaceousness. One sip and everything makes sense.
The label for this elegant beast features a section of David Barnes’ momentous Lady On The Cusp album art – a tumultuous tableau of a society quarrelling with itself. We hope Always in Trouble doesn’t inspire similar conflagration. But we also know that an of Montreal project is never afraid of a fight.
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Lady On The Cusp is available via Polyvinyl Records, Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, and wherever else good music can be found. of Montreal is on tour now and visits DC’s 9:30 Club on Monday, July 1.
Limited distribution of Always in Trouble will follow its release on Wednesday, June 19. The sour ale lands in the wake of Ocelot collaboration with Mary Timony and Sheer Mag earlier this year and beers with The Clientele, Protomartyr, Superchunk, Palehound, and Fucked Up during 20203. The brewery is located in Dulles, Virginia.
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