We'''ve all read the back story for Hissing Fauna are You the Destroyer? many times over by now. Kevin Barnes was thrown into a pit of despair after his marriage nearly fell apart, and the psychic carnage is splayed lyrically over each and every track. However, in spite of the near constant lyrical neuroses, a casual listener could be forgiven for missing the heavy subtext in the glam sugar rush.
On the sure to be overshadowed companion EP, Icons, Abstract Thee, the collateral damage from this romantic trauma is tackled in a less psychedelic, more beautifully tragic ballad. ''"Miss Blonde, Your Papa is Failing''" is where Kevin breaks the news to his young daughter with a gentle acoustic strum. Over a bare and lovely White Album piano melody, Kevin throws out tear jerkers like, "Sweet friend/ was I born to give you a name/ and then be erased/ all because I couldn't keep it together?" There's a gravity here, a sense of real consequences to Barnes' mental instability that the album's surreality jumbles up. Including this into Hissing proper might have grounded its outlandish feel. As pretty as this song is, that's actually a pretty good argument for leaving it off.
Of Montreal - "Miss Blonde, Your Papa is Failing"
[Audio:http://media.prefixmag.com/site_media/uploads/mp3s/Of-Montreal-Miss-Blonde.mp3]