Mal Blumreturns with new LP,The Villain, out viaGet Better Records--a striking resurgencethat combines the artist’s trademark blend of searing and wry lyricism with novel boldness andslight camp amongst a backdrop of textured indie rock, alt-rock and pop instrumentation.The album is ultimately a work about human complexity and the stories we tell ourselves versusthe stories wearetold about ourselves. There is no one villain. Sometimes the villain is anunreliable narrator, sometimes a misunderstood character, sometimes a heel-turn performanceof villainy. Perhapsmost notably, given the historical and rapidly mounting demonization oftrans people as villainous bogeymen (attitudes explored on tracks like “Killer” and “A SmallRequest”), often the villain appears to be a purposeful construct that never truly existedat all.The listener is left not with easy answers, but invitations. Welcome to your Villain era