The first two solo albums by Sam Prekop — his 1999 self-titled debut and its follow-up, 2005’s Who’s Your New Professor — bore a lot of similarities to the music made by Prekop’s primary band, the Sea And Cake. (Both of those solo albums and all TSAC’s albums are totally essential, btw.) In 2010, though, Prekop released the synth-based instrumental LP Old Punch Card, from which his distinctive voice was totally absent. Prekop has a new one on the way, called The Republic, and based on the first single, “Weather Vane,” he’s continuing in the direction of Old Punch Card. Here’s what his label, Thrill Jockey, has to say about the forthcoming album:

The Republic is the second album of modular synthesis from The Sea And Cake’s Sam Prekop. The album moves Prekop’s synthesizer compositions further into the realm of the accessible without abandoning the experimental legacy of the instrument.

I think you can hear that here. Like all Prekop’s music — whether or not he’s actually singing — it’s got a lounge-y, louche, chilled-out vibe. Listen.

The Republic is out 2/24 via Thrill Jockey.