Former Oxford Collapse leader Mike Pace is about to release a new album with his solo project Mike Pace And The Child Actors. Smooth Sailing is Pace’s first full-length since 2015’s Best Boy, though he kicked out a pair of singles and an EP in between. Here’s how Pace describes this latest endeavor:

Smooth Sailing is my big pop record…or rather my attempt at one as a nearly 40-year old man who grew up on a steady diet of noisy indie rock and years later discovered the wonders of prog, soft singer-songwriters and AOR through the bargain bin. Forced to describe these songs, I’d say they sound like if Runt-era Todd Rundgren had a baby with Hejira-era Joni Mitchell, delivered by Jeremiah Johnson-era Robert Redford, and then I burst into the operating room and said, “Hey guys, listen to my new tape!”

Some of that comes through on the project’s new single out today, but if you’re familiar with Pace’s previous work, “Escape The Noise” won’t come off as a totally unexpected leap. Though the track boasts a fancy arrangement, including some big brass that carries it home, it’s got the same supercharged melodic guitar onslaught that made Oxford Collapse’s records such a rush. It also arrives with a zany video directed by Angus Scrimm that finds Pace performing in multiple and engaging in various unfortunate adventures.

Check it out below along with the previously released album opener “Everyone Out Of The Car.”

TRACKLIST:
01 “Everyone Out Of The Car”
02 “Senior Statesman”
03 “Blaster”
04 “Escape The Noise”
05 “Disconnected Heart”
06 “Service Merchandise”
07 “Young And Beautiful”
08 “Troubleshooting”
09 “Business In Bermuda”
10 “Americana Manhasset”

Smooth Sailing is out 8/3 via the Self-Starter Foundation. Pre-order it here.