Stephen Malkmus has announced his new album, Traditional Techniques, out March 6th via Matador, lead single Xian Man, and a North American tour. Traditional Techniques, Malkmus third solo LP without the Jicks (or Pavement), is new phase folk music for new phase folks, with Malkmus as attuned as ever to the rhythms of the ever-evolving lingual slipstream.Its packed with handmade arrangements, modern folklore, and 10 songs written and performed in his singular voice. An adventurous new album in an instantly familiar mode, Traditional Techniques creates a serendipitous trilogy with the loose fuzz of the Jicks Sparkle Hard (2018) and the solo bedroom experiments of Groove Denied (2019).Centered around the songwriters 12-string acoustic guitar, and informed by a half-century of folk-rock reference points, Traditional Techniques is the product of Malkmus and engineer /arranger Chris Funk (The Decemberists). Playing guitar is friend-to-all-heads Matt Sweeney (Bonnie Prince Billy, Chavez, too many others to count), whod previously crossed paths with Malkmus on the opposite end of the longhairs map of the world, most lately gnarling out together back east in the jam conglomerate Endless Boogie. Malkmus will embark on a North American tour this spring with an entirely new band (more shows will be announced in the weeks to come). The Traditional Techniques live band is Malkmus (vocals, guitar), Funk (pedal steel, keys), Sweeney (guitar), Brad Truax (bass), and Jake Morris (drums), joined at times by Qais Essar (rabab) and Eric Zang (kaval, udu, daf). An excellent solo career marked by a warmth, humor and generosity. - Rolling StoneFew artists can write a hook as immediately infectious or distinctive as Stephen Malkmus. NPRHes remained one of the most consistent musicians working today, delivering muscular melodies and loose precocity to the acclaim of every project he touches. NoiseyAlbum And Artist Information: Its called folk music, and its taking the country by storm. Stephen Malkmus is only the latest popular artist to apply this old new approach to their rock and roll sounds. Created in the spontaneous west coast style adopted so infectiously by young American musicians in this time of global turmoil, Malkmus took on Traditional Techniques as a kind of self-dare. Conceived while recording Sparkle Hard with the Jicks at Portlands Halfling Studio, Malkmus had observed the variety of acoustic instruments available for use. The idea escalated within a matter of weeks into a full set of songs and shortly thereafter into a realized and fully committed album. When he returned to Halfling, Malkmus drew from a whole new musical palette--including a variety of Afghani instruments--to support an ache both quizzical and contemporary. Stephen Malkmus isnt one of those hung up musicians one reads about so frequently these days, sequestered in a jungle room of the heart. The jukebox in Malkmuss private grotto remains fully updated. Not only is the artist present, but hes on Twitter. Its hard to call Traditional Techniques long awaited, because Stephen Malkmus just put out an album last year, but its also exactly that. While he may have taken his sweet time in jumping on the folk music boom, surely there are those among us who have fantasized about how lovely it might sound if SM would just get with the times. And it sounds like all that and beyond. Set a day or two aside to transcribe the lyrics like the Dylanlogists of yore and vibe on the shape of folk to come with Stephen Malkmus.