Why of Montreal frontman Kevin Barnes embraces sadness

Kevin Barnes is admittedly a melancholy person. But the mastermind behind art-rock group of Montreal deploys his disposition in a way most don’t. For 30 years and across 20 albums to date, Barnes pulled and poured his heart and soul into every release, including his latest record, “aethermead.”

Before the album took shape, Barnes and his fiancé split, and he moved from the quiet cozy solitude of Vermont to the big-city hustle of Brooklyn.

“It’s interesting, because the songs were written at a time where I was in a pretty sad, dark place, but I guess that’s not really that rare for me,” Barnes quips. “I’m always in a sad and dark place.”

In that sense, his approach to of Montreal was par for the course. Now, however, the ensuing tour has been a way for him to further process pain from the past and turn it into more of a collective experience, finding solace through sharing.  

“It’s obviously really cathartic to write them, record them and release them. Then it’s interesting when you have to perform them, and you embody the source of inspiration again, which is something that I wouldn’t really want to do,” he says. “I wouldn’t necessarily want to be back in that time period, but through the songs you are sort of transported back in time a little bit.

“It’s been interesting to see how, emotionally, that’s evolved from the place of inception to where it’s at right now, and I’m still wrapping my head around what everything I’ve experienced in the last year,” Barnes continues. “I feel like in a way it’s like exposure therapy. It’s helpful to have to. I think it would be less beneficial to not go on tour with a record like this. I think it’s healthier for me to experience the song with some distance.”

And who hasn’t been through a brutal break-up before?

“It does make me feel good that there are universal themes. Everyone experiences heartache. Everyone experiences longing. Everyone experiences a feeling of not getting what they want, of not having their emotional lives fulfilled in the ways that they want,” Barnes explains. “I’m not on an island with these abstract, schizo ideas. They’re relatable in that way. It does feel like I’m a part of the human race.”

Barnes and of Montreal will be at the Bluebird Theater on Friday, July 24. NYC avant-garde band Sloppy Jane is also on the bill.

Tracks like “Already Dreaming” (with a music video directed by his daughter, Beatrice), “Wanting on Air” and “Take the Form” hit heavy in more ways than one. The dichotomy of the deeply personal lyrics and poppy catchiness surrounding them is signature of Montreal. And Barnes knows himself best. It’s all part of the process.

“I really like color. I like change. I like unpredictability. From how that presents itself lyrically can be different than how it presents itself musically,” he says. “When I’m making music, there’s got to be some really strong lifeforce behind it. The chords that I pick and the melodies that I pick organically, I think, are more happy-sounding because in a way I’m trying to make my mood better, trying to help myself therapeutically.

“I think if I was just making these dirges, I would feel even worse after making the song,” Barnes concludes. “It’s a way to try to lift my spirits, musically. There’s a part of me that’s playful. Even when I’m at my darkest points, there’s still that laughing gnome, or whatever Davie Bowie was saying, goofy creature, inside of me.”

of Montreal, with Sloppy Jane, takes place at 7 p.m., Friday, July 24, at the Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Ave. Tickets are $46.