MJ Lenderman (Wednesday)

Sung from the heart with more than a hint of midwestern emo twang, Lenderman's 4th solo outing away from his day job in Wednesday is a refuge of tangled guitar and rough country stylings that read like a leyline to his soul - through songs about watches and playing guitar hero, MJ spills his emotive ink pot across carefully painted vistas, drawing us into his evocative world with every strum.

The Wednesday guitarist kicks out yet another thrilling solo album of indie rock moreishness, replete with grainy lo-fi melodies & muscular guitar wrangling. The anatomy of an MJ record might go something like this: warped pedal steels and skuzzed out guitar; crackin' a cold one with some buds; a voice reminiscent of the high- lonesome warble of a choirboy. Songs snake their way from a lo- fi home recording to something glossier made with longtime friends at Asheville's Drop of Sun studios, but the recording setting doesn't seem to matter much - at its core, a Lenderman song rings true. Manning Fireworks is a remarkable development in MJ Lenderman's story as an incredibly incisive singer-songwriter, whose propensity for humour always points to some uneasy, disorienting darkness. The punchlines are still here, as are the rusted-wire guitar solos that have made Lenderman a favourite for indie rock fans looking for an emerging guitar hero. There's a new sincerity, too, as Lenderman lets listeners clearly see the world through his warped lens.