After one listen to Of Montreal [ tickets ]'s latest, "Hissing Fauna Are You the Destroyer," fans of the group prior to 2004's "Satanic Panic in the Attic" will be shocked to learn this is the same outfit that produced the expansively twee, carnival-esque albums "The Gay Parade" and "Cherry Peel." The degree of separation in both sound and atmosphere could not be more vast.

Having toiled in what Of Montreal's leader and chief songwriter, Kevin Barnes, has described as the "indie ghetto" for nearly 10 years, Barnes took the reins of the group in 2004, ending an era of Elephant 6-style, mass group collaboration. Having complete creative control of songwriting, sound and production, what emerged was the beat heavy, electropop-synth watershed "Satanic Panic in the Attic." The year 2005 saw Barnes further chase his new muse on "The Sunlandic Twins," mining varied genres until ultimately spinning them into one of his own.

Part three of Barnes' creative trilogy, "Hissing Fauna Are You the Destroyer," is the logical next step in terms of sound, but with an added layer of personalization and introspection not so evident on prior efforts. When, on the track "A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger," he emotes, "I spent the winter on the verge of a total breakdown while living in Norway" while backed by the incredibly poppy and upbeat instrumentation, you wonder whether to laugh or cry with him.

Such is the duality of "Hissing Fauna." Fifty-plus minutes of exceedingly clever pop saturated in what indeed sounds like a man on the brink of a nervous breakdown. It very well may also be Of Montreal's best work yet.