Elijah Johnston Stupid Soul (Signed; Green)

Stupid Soul is either Elijah Johnston’s 4th record or his 7th, depending on who you ask, but possibly the first you’ve heard. The logical next step in a career of slow burns, Stupid Soul is neither a record of morose self-reflection nor a frenetic series of genre experiments, settling into a comfortable steady pace: a record built to fit like a glove.

Performed by a small team including Johnston’s brother, manager, and long-time producer, the record is full of small wonders and live band energy, the sound of four close-knit collaborators in pursuit of something timeless. 12-string acoustic guitars, vintage synthesizers, and a relentless belief in the guitar solo round out Johnston’s usual pop rock palate, and the team manages to make a coherent picture out of a mood board that takes just as many cues from Brian Wilson as it does from The Legend of Zelda. But you don’t need a syllabus for this, and you don’t need a reference sheet — you just need the songs. They’ll speak for themselves.