Icons, Abstract Thee

Icons, Abstract Thee
EP by Of Montreal
Released	January 23, 2007
Recorded	2006
Genre	Indie pop
Length	21:06
Label	Polyvinyl
Producer	Kevin Barnes
Professional reviews
The reviews parameter has been deprecated. Please move reviews into the “Reception” section of the article. See Moving reviews into article space. Pitchfork Media (8.0/10) link
Of Montreal chronology
Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (2007) Icons, Abstract Thee (2007) Skeletal Lamping (2008)

Icons, Abstract Thee is an EP from indie pop band Of Montreal. It was released May 8, 2007, along with the album Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? and the promo CD single "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse". It is a collection of songs from recent singles, bonus tracks from the vinyl edition of Hissing Fauna, and a song that was put up on the band's Myspace page. It can be seen as a bridge between the song "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal" and "Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider" from Hissing Fauna.

Structure

The first track, "Du Og Meg" (Norwegian for "you and I"), discusses the manner in which lead singer Kevin Barnes and wife Nina met and courted each other. "Voltaic Crusher/Undrum to Muted Da" is about the quickly fading love between the two, a theme present in Hissing Fauna... and the only theme in "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal".

The second part of the song, "Undrum to Muted Da", is a short instrumental piece tacked on the beginning of the next song, "Derailments in a Place of Our Own". "Derailments" is a solo acoustic performance that details Kevin's deepest depression in the clearest detail out of all songs from the Hissing Fauna sessions. The EP-only track "Miss Blonde Your Papa Is Failing" name checks Kevin's daughter in the title, and is a song explaining the breakup as gently as possible to the young Alabee.

"No Conclusion" is the last song on the EP as well as the longest. It is about the suicidal thoughts harbored by Barnes. By the end of the song, the song has changed from a suicide in a physical sense to a suicide in a metaphysical sense (i.e. going into hiding). On his review published by Pitchfork Media, Rob Mitchum stated that "No Conclusion" would "likely end up as one of 2007's finest musical accomplishments".

Track listing

1. "Du Og Meg" – 2:21
2. "Voltaic Crusher/Undrum to Muted Da" – 2:04
3. "Derailments in a Place of Our Own" – 3:03
4. "Miss Blonde Your Papa Is Failing" – 3:55
5. "No Conclusion" – 9:41