Momus

"Moop beuh, moopy doozaw, moop beuh deu da gat goosh, moop beuh pregat gazaw moop beuh carp gat git” sings Momus on the opening of "Moop Bears,” the leadoff track from Ocky Milk. It is about as easy to translate as it is to sum up not just his new record but essentially, any Momus album. As he has been demonstrating since the early ’80s with his musical curveballs and international exploits, Momus isn’t in the business of writing easy listens. He has consistently proven that he can write stylish, synth-based pop songs and sing with a worldly tone that play on the romance and lore of Europe’s greyness and damp air at the level of the great Behavior-era Pet Shop Boys, as displayed on "The Birdcatcher” and "Nervous Heartbeat.” It might be a straight-forward listen if the album was just these two songs but there is also creepy, diabolic chanting that sounds like bodies have just been offered on "Devil Mask, Buddha Mind” and a number of other tracks that are nonsense acoustic folk doodles over Momus’s literary mumblings. There are some teasing classical music interludes as well that seem like good ideas but only show up briefly to start or finish a track. Although more accessible and warmer than some of his previous work, Momus will still not likely be a household name anytime soon. But you can’t help but think he would have it no other way.