Montaigne’s first fully independent album, it’s hard to be a fish, turns family, grief, survival and disconnection into ten pieces of dreamy art pop. The writing is candid without feeling stripped back, moving from the bluntly titled “talking shit” and “get older” to the searching “somewhere…?” and “swim back”. There’s a playful streak here too, with the album’s inner logic informed by RPGs, Kingdom Hearts, Disco Elysium and the frantic shape-shifting of Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Montaigne handles production and programming, giving the songs a pop framework that’s filled out by Shuta Nishida’s guitar and mandolin, Nick Harriott’s piano, Miles Thomas’s drums, Gus Gardiner’s bass, and strings and backing vocals from James Tarbotton. It’s a good-sized cast, but the personal centre stays clear. Wave Racer mixes the album and co-produces “it’s all about the money”, while Antonia Gauci engineered the sessions at Golden Retriever and Sunstone Studios. Anyone drawn to confessional indie pop with a slightly strange, game-shaped imagination should find plenty here, especially across “beyond the glass”, “so fast in the water” and “best case scenario”.
