STEPHEN MALKMUS’ WEIRD, WILD ELECTRONIC ADVENTURE

Inside the former Pavement singer’s far-out new solo

LP, ‘Groove Denied’

Last year, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks released an excellent indie-rock album called Sparkle Hard. Turns out it was only a warm-up for Groove Denied, the trippy electronic solo excursion he’s releasing in March. Malkmus began work on the LP in 2016, noodling on a keyboard from the Eighties in the basement of his family’s Portland, Oregon, home. He cites the Human League, “Louie Louie” and the cantina scene in Star Wars as key influences, describing one track as sounding “like if I was in Berlin and I got home from the dance club completely wasted and tried to make a song.” When his longtime label, Matador Records, politely requested that he finish Sparkle Hard first, Malkmus put those basement sessions aside (“I was like, ‘Don’t worry. There are more guitars coming your way’ ”), but he’s delighted to be returning to them now, with a solo tour planned. “Hopefully, I can pull it together,” he says. “I’m going to watch the Springsteen thing on Netflix, maybe get some ideas.” S.V.L.