Bob Mould has wrapped work on his fifth solo record, Modulate., and will release the album on March 12th. The album is Mould's first since 1998's The Last Dog and Pony Show, which he claimed would mark the end of his heavy, guitar-drenched sound.

Making good on at least part of his promise, the first six tracks on Modulate. find Mould working with an electronic, rather than electric, sound. "I got to a point and I got stuck," Mould says of his decision to put his guitar down. "I wasn't able to get any new ideas out of the guitar. I wrote some songs like I did before and it just didn't work. It might sound fine to some people, but it wouldn't make me happy. I just needed to try and shake things up for my own self. I think it really signals that I've made a clean break, and I'm trying to start over and I'm prepared to fail. It's never fun as an artist, but it's like going to the dentist: It's something you've got to do."

The other eight songs offer a guitar-driven sound, "a little more terra firma," Mould says, that is a less drastic departure to his previous work. He also says the album is very much informed by his move to New York City six years ago, after living in Austin. "This is definitely very much a soundtrack of my life kind of record," he says. "New York informed this record to a great degree. I could not have written this record in Austin."

The album will be released on Mould's new Granary Music label, and he's also teamed with United Musicians, a collective organization started by Aimee Mann and Michael Penn that helps secure distribution for independent artists.

Modulate will be one of a trio of releases from Mould this year. In June, Mould, under the alias LoudBomb, he will release Long Playing Grooves, a full-fledged electronic album, that he describes as, "way more loop and groove. It's more of a put it on your computer at work kind of album." And in September he plans to release Body of Song, a more straightforward acoustic album he likens to 1989's Workbook.

Mould is planning to launch a U.S. tour in March. The Carnival of Light and Sound Tour will consist of Mould performing alone save for some pre-recorded electronic tracks. Mould will also be backed by a screen that will display film clips that he directed. The tour will offer fans an advance opportunity to purchase the next album, and Mould is also hoping to have a live album for sale that was recorded by the BBC at a London stop on the Last Dog and Pony Tour. "I've been sitting in the chair for awhile," he says of his eagerness to hit the road. "It'll be nice to get up and stretch for a little bit."

Modulate. track listing:

180 Rain
Sunset Safety Glass
Semper Fi
Homecoming Parade
Lost Zoloft
Without?
Slay/Sway
The Receipt
Quasar
Soundonsound
Hornery
Comeonstrong
Trade
Author's Lament

ANDREW DANSBY
(January 23, 2002)