Almost two decades into a solo career that appeared to have long ago lost its momentum amid a welter of endless, aimless jams, Stephen Malkmus has rediscovered the art of wrongfooting listeners. After Sparkle Hard’s hook-laden return to form in 2018 and Groove Denied’s adventures in early-80s electronica last year, Traditional Techniques marks another stylistic departure, this time setting the controls for the heart of the early-70s psych-folk scene. As with Groove Denied, his regular backing band the Jicks are dispensed with, his collaborators instead the Decemberists’ multi-instrumentalist Chris Funk, guitarist Matt Sweeney and Afghan rabab-player Qais Essar.
The result is a set of gently rambling, predominantly acoustic songs that might lack immediacy but make up for that with clever twists aplenty. Malkmus’s lyrics are as discursive as ever, whether he’s immersing himself in his chosen period with mentions of “flower children” (on the surely tongue-in-cheek Flowin’ Robes), touching on more contemporary reference points (“May the word be spread by cracked emojis”) or detailing such first-world problems as “the canasta deck is missing its jacks”. The more direct songs work best – most notably the simmering Shadowbanned and the contrastingly carefree bonus track Juliefuckingette – but there is just as much to enjoy in the album’s hinterlands too.
