Stephen Malkmus has announced that he will be releasing a new electronic music album this year, exploring a new musical direction that is atypical for the indie rock legend. The album entitled Groove Denied will be released on March 15, on Matador records.

Despite being an electronic music album, the style isn’t classified as EDM nor “hiptronica,” with each album hosting vocal cuts and lyrics as opposed to purely instrumental music. As Malkmus explained in a press release: “It’s kind of funny to mess with stuff you’re not supposed to mess with.”

If the album’s first single “Viktor Borgia,” is any indiction for the other tracks on the album, the style is heavily reminiscent of early 70s-80s synth pop, even channeling classic works of pioneers such as Perry and Kingsley. The cartoonish synth chords and melodramatic singing work to a string effect, which is further showcased in its video.

“Viktor Borgia’s” video shows Malkmus in a dance club as stereotypical club led lights shoot through him in the background, before the scene switches to a screen showing cheap CGI images. This aesthetic is likely an homage to 80s computer graphics and the vaporwave genre, which also utilizes many of these images to a comedic appeal.

Last year Malkmus hinted at the release, stating that he was interested in electronic music and “stoner house music,” that is popular in dance clubs world wide. Yet Malkmus maintains that he was unsure if he would ever actually release the album in its entirety at first.

“I’m interested in that kind of music, electronic music, and stoner house music,” he stated in an interview with Stereogum. “But it’s also like, does the world need it? Is it good, really? Do I wanna release it?”

Malkmus is no stranger to dance culture however, having attended his fair share of raves throughout the original heyday of rave culture during the 90s in epicenters such as Berlin. This phenomena isn’t new among indie rock stars however, as figures such as James Murphy, of LCD Soundsystem fame, began their career in indie rock long before switching to electronic and dance music.

“I guess I’m building my skills. I’m behind the learning curve. You can get away with some sense of discovery with being a beginner on Ableton and drum programming. There can be a kind of freshness to that,” he explained further in the interview. “I’m still kinda deciding, ‘Is it legit, or is it a mid-life crisis rock thing?’”

Although Malkmus is best known as the frontman for pioneering indie rock band Pavement during the 90s, he currently performs as Andy Malkmus and the Jicks, where he remains the frontman. Last year the band released their album Sparkle Hard.

They followed up this album release with a short tour, eventually having a performance at the Roxy in Los Angeles, California.

Groove Denied Tracklisting:
1. Belziger Faceplant
2. A Bit Wilder
3. Viktor Borgia
4. Come Get Me
5. Forget Your Place
6. Rushing The Acid Frat
7. Love The Door
8. Bossviscerate
9. Ocean of Revenge
10. Grown Nothing