If you’ve ever wondered what it sounds like when a vintage Roland synth catches fire — metaphorically speaking, of course — Welsh singer-songwriter Tom Emlyn has the answer on his brand new album, Passing Craze, out now via Dirty Carrot Records.

Hailing from Cardiff, Wales, Emlyn is the kind of artist BBC Radio Wales’ Adam Walton has called a “peripatetic musical genius,” and God Is In The TV has crowned “Wales’ most prolific musician.” Passing Craze marks his sixth solo album in just four years, which would be alarming if the songs weren’t this good. Fans of Elliott Smith, George Harrison, and Bob Dylan, consider this your formal invitation.

The album began life as a final university project for producer Evan Collett — Emlyn’s bandmate in psychedelic garage rock outfit Rainyday Rainbow — at DBS (Deep Blue Sound) in Bristol. With studio time booked in tight three-hour blocks on an impressive analog desk, the duo dug into Emlyn’s archives and unearthed a treasure trove of forgotten fragments, some dating back to his teenage years. Skeletal acoustic guitars were doubled Elliott Smith-style, then layered with drums, piano, harmonica, trumpet, melodica, percussion from drummer Jack Patrick, and backing vocals by Alys Hardy.

After Collett wrapped up his coursework, the project moved home to Cardiff, where it took on a warmer bedroom-pop sheen. Production flourishes include slide guitar, banjo played with a violin bow, and a rediscovered 1970s Roland monophonic synth — pulled out of storage from Collett’s grandfather’s collection — that ended up snaking through nearly every track. On “Miss Understood,” experimental guitar layers are run through the synth’s circuits. On “Your Dishes” and “Burning the Candle,” everything is morphed through a guitar pedal that simulates VHS tape degradation, giving the songs a beautifully woozy, lo-fi flicker.

Lyrically, Passing Craze tells its own story — one of dreams, struggle, delusion, failure, and the messy business of putting the pieces back together. It’s the kind of record that feels both intimately handmade and quietly inevitable, as if the songs were always going to find each other eventually.

Emlyn has shared stages with the likes of Gruff Rhys, Charlotte Church, Gwenno, Dafydd Iwan, and The Levellers, and he’s hitting the road hard through the summer. Catch him live at Devauden Festival, New Cross Inn in London, Cafe Kino in Bristol, Kinning Park Complex in Glasgow, and Aberjazz in Fishguard, among many others.

Stream Passing Craze on Spotify here:

Vinyl LPs and CDs are available now via Dirty Carrot Records — and if there was ever a record that begged to be heard on wax, it’s this one. Press play, settle in, and let Tom Emlyn’s hallucinated South Walian landscape do its quiet, magical work.