Acclaimed Seattle indie rock musician Damien Jurado’s newest release, What’s New, Tomboy?, displays his desire to return to form with a more stripped-down acoustic focus and a contemporary focused structure around themes of existentialism and isolation.

Jurado, who got his start on Sub Pop Records in the ‘90s maintains his signature use of abstract lyrics to entice listeners in to assign their own meanings onto his songs. In his efforts to maintain a more traditional acoustic folk quality, Jurado also dabbles in the use of synthetic percussion and ambient instrumentation on several tracks. Frequent collaborator Josh Gordon makes a return on What’s New, Tomboy?, having contributed to Jurado’s previous albums The Horizon Just Laughed and In the Ship of a Storm.

Jurado cited Lou Reed, Wire and Roxy Music as heavy influences on What’s New, Tomboy?. Just as present is the dripping influence of Eddie Vedder on Jurado’s simultaneously strained yet soft vocals, which are quite pleasant amid a sea of very similar sounding lead vocalists in indie rock.

Considering Damien Jurado’s nearly 25-year-long career, it’s obvious he has influenced plenty of other artists with his work. Songs like “Ochoa” and “Arthur Aware” recall Low Roar’s ambient and soulful synthetic style, while “Alice Hyatt” exemplifies his influence on groups like Syd Matters.

Many of the tracks feature pleasant acoustic melodies or soft electric guitar ballads, accompanied with the occasional appearance of background organs and lo-fi ambient tones. While his goal was to strip down the songs to a more organic sound, the stylistic choices sometimes clash with the objective of the album. What’s New, Tomboy? maintains contemporary styling that is all too common among indie rock acts, However Jurado’s abstract lyrics make the project distinctly his own.

Much of the album serves as an expression of the intertwining feelings of existentialism and isolation, such as on “The End of the Road,” where Jurado croons, “I’ve spent a lifetime looking for you/ Patiently waiting to fall into view/ And now that I’ve found you my running is over/ I have made it to the end of the road.” Many of the tracks could be easily interpreted as love songs or perceived as metaphors for finding one’s place in the world. In describing his album, Jurado expressed amusement at being unsure of the meaning of his songs, as well as others’ interpretations of them.

His reluctance to present clear ideas or assign meaning to his songs could be perceived as though he’s relying too heavily on his fans to provide meaningful messaging. One such example of this can be found on “Birds Tricked Into Trees,” where Jurado sings, “Once I was turning around/ I missed the colors and sounds/ Fade now into perfected imperfection.” While the infectious melody helps to enhance the lyrics, random abstract lines such as this come off as veiled attempts to sound profound or sophisticated.

However, there is a sentimental quality to each song, to which most listeners will be able to find an emotional level of understanding. What’s New, Tomboy? is a strangely safe development reminiscent of his early work, in light of the more experimental sounds from his 2018 effort, The Horizon Just Laughed, and surprisingly feels less grounded in his early work than 2019’s In the Ship of a Storm.

The creative choices Damien Jurado makes on the album make it seem as if he made it to appeal to his fanbase rather than to reach new audiences. There are only a few hiccups to an otherwise focused album that successfully returns Jurado back to his early roots. While “Arthur Aware,” “Sandra” and “Frankie” are lulls, “Birds Tricked Into Trees,” “Alice Hyatt,” “Fool Maria” and “When You Were Few” highlight Jurado’s strengths as a songwriter. What’s New, Tomboy? is another worthy entry into his discography that’s certain to please fans.

Follow editor Tim Hoffman at Twitter.com/hipsterp0tamus.