Two years is unprecedented for Stephen Clair and his longtime bandmates Daria Grace (bass) and Aaron Latos (drums) to spend making an album. 2020’s The Small Hours took a couple of weekends—and it was nothing to sneeze at.

Transmissions (Oct 11) will be Clair’s 11th studio album. And yeah, not only did they spend two years getting thigh slaps, tympani, 80s synth arpeggios, and ever-present electric guitar sounds just right, they then mixed and mastered the album. After that, another year went by and they mixed and mastered the album a second time. Whew.

This 9-song excursion wildly goes to all of Clair’s favorite places, from 2-chord Patti Smith–style rock drama to The Cars’ era synth melodies, to the Hold Steady vibes, undoubtedly furthering the Deer Tick, Wilco, and Spoon comparisons yet again.

Ultimately, Clair’s forged his own path, and his sound and songs are all his own. This album is not only full of surprises, but the songs are just hooky as hell.

You know how Clair has been called “delightfully enchanting” (Maximum Volume Music), “the kind of citified troubadour that the roots songwriting world needs these days.”, (Performing Songwriter), and “viscerally rock ‘n’ roll, without pretence or artifice” (Power of Pop), it’s because Clair is all that and more.

This summer, Stephen Clair is featured in the June 2024 issue of Relix as an artist to watch. Read that piece and you’ll see how Clair has been obsessed with music since kindergarten, which he skipped because he was listening to records with his grandfather. And when it comes to making songs that obsession comes through in every word, every note, and even the air in between.

And get a load of his live band that’s touring in support of Transmissions.