• Courtesy
• King Tuff, Smalltown Stardust

(Sub Pop, cassette, CD, digital, vinyl)

When Kyle Thomas, aka King Tuff, left his hometown of Brattleboro in 2011 to board a Greyhound bus bound for Los Angeles, it wasn't exactly a triumphant departure.

"The truth is I never really wanted to leave my little town in Vermont," Thomas said in a press release for his new album, Smalltown Stardust. He knew he needed to seek out greener pastures to pursue his dream of a music career, but that didn't stop him from crying on the bus as he rode west.

"In some alternate dimension there's a version of me still living there," he continued. "But alas, in this here dimension, I'm nothing but a townie without a town."

In the intervening decade, Thomas has realized his dream. A collection of hard-rocking records and stints in bands with Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis and songwriter Ty Segall have established his reputation as a garage-rock guru of sorts, even as he began to distance himself from that sound with 2018's The Other. That record found Thomas asking big questions and contemplating death, giving the songs a dark undertone.

On Smalltown Stardust, Thomas sounds like a man who has made peace with those questions and is ready to share what he's learned. Along the way, he continues to pull on the edges of his sound, moving even further from the sonic shores on which he started, ironically while dwelling on his past and his formative years in Brattleboro.

Gone is the grungy persona of a leather-clad rocker. In its place, Thomas and Tuff have melded into some combination of a folk-rock hermit and a hedge wizard, as if Gandalf took a pound of mushrooms and a Gibson SG into the woods to make an indie rock banger.

• Courtesy Of Luke Awtry Photography
• Kyle Thomas, aka King Tuff

"Love Letter to Plants" kicks off the record with a vamping synth reminiscent of fellow Vermont expat Caroline Rose's "Jeannie Becomes a Mom." The keys are balanced precariously against a clockwork-like beat while Thomas waxes philosophic about his garden. "I just want to dance and write love letters to plants / And I don't need anything else in my life," he sings, the affirmation introducing an album as intrigued by the natural world as any pagan rite. You can all but hear the songwriter retreating from the world — a Homer-Simpson-disappearing-into-the-hedge meme come true — as memories of growing up in a greener world dominate his songwriting.

Smalltown Stardust was coproduced by singer-songwriter Sasami, aka Sasami Ashworth, who also cowrote much of the material and layers harmony vocals all over the record. Ashworth and Thomas share a house in Mount Washington in LA, along with singer-songwriter Meg Duffy, aka Hand Habits. The musicians have collaborated on each of their most recent respective records, starting with Duffy's Fun House in 2021, followed by Sasami's Squeeze in 2022 and culminating in Thomas' new LP.

Ashworth comes in strong on "How I Love," a mid-tempo rocker that recalls '70s-era George Harrison, down to Thomas' tastefully sparse stabs of guitar. Her voice elevates the song, blending with Thomas' vocal as his spiritual yearning takes center stage.

The album isn't exactly Thomas' version of Slow Train Coming, where Bob Dylan famously reinvented himself as a born-again Christian, but there's no escaping the sense of spiritual curiosity prevalent in the songs. In particular, Thomas' desire to commune with nature is irrepressible.

"A Meditation" shows just how deeply rooted that longing is. A brief recording of an 8-year-old Thomas captures him instructing the listener to "take a really deep breath just to let all our soul out, and let's be spiritual with this." It's more than proof that Thomas has been on a quest for higher meaning since he was a precocious kid traipsing through the woods of southern Vermont. It's an audio snapshot, a "picture" Thomas has kept all these years for a reason, as if he knew that one day he would need a signpost to guide him back to a truth he knew as a child.

Those childhood memories populate Smalltown Stardust from start to finish. From name-checking Interstate 91 (which runs right through Brattleboro) in the title track to "Rock River," in which Thomas sings, "Those days are gone and we can't rewind / 'Cause people grow and places change / But my love for you will never fade away." It's more than simple nostalgia; it's a songwriter yearning for the simplicity of a youth spent in nature.

As the snarling guitars of previous albums have receded in his work, Thomas has ushered in a new sonic palette, full of cellos and violins, sun-kissed harmonies, and even hints of pop music. Tracks such as "The Bandits of Blue Sky," which edges into Electric Light Orchestra territory, and the almost ecclesiastic "The Wheel" are the best markers for his growth.

In the end, Smalltown Stardust is a record looking back to halcyon days, all while celebrating the future Thomas found after boarding that fateful Greyhound all those years ago.

The album is now streaming on all major services and is available at local record stores. Thomas returns to his old stomping grounds on March 25 for a show at the Stone Church in Brattleboro.