Of Montreal: False Priest (Shock)

With their falsetto funk, tongue-in-cheek humour, camp dramatics, clever dynamics, pop-smarts and outrageous sense of fun, Of Montreal out of Athens, Georgia sound like Queen or a Fame-era Bowie for the 21^st century.

And if their terrific Skeletal Lamping of 2009 staked out their distinctive ground, this silly, suggestive, sexy and cinematic-sounding sequel just layers on the irony.

On Our Riotous Defects frontman Kevin Barnes speak-sings his way through a fraught relationship with a crazy girl (“I did everything I could to make you happy, I participated in all your protests, supported your stupid little blog . . . but still we fought, like Ike and Tina Turner in reverse”), Coquet Coquette rides a punching Eighties rock riff, and they also slink around in r'n'b funk (Godly Intersex), Prince-like pop (Like a Tourist with the memorable line “you fetishize the archetype”) and classic ennui-filled Eighties synth-pop (Famine Affair).

Guests are Solange Knowles (Beyonce's sister) and Janelle Monae, but you can hardly escape Barnes' literate or funny lyrics (“you uncalibrate my skull . . . thought she was my Annie Hall, or at least my Ali McGraw”) or the everything'n'kitchen sink production which, remarkably, still manages to sound crisp and danceable even when a guitar landslide arrives with backing vocals.

Two songs too long, but sign up for the fun resurrection.

You'll be dancing and laughing.

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