Indie rock-R&B-soul artist Remi Wolf’s new album “Mud” is hard to miss. If not for its unusual mud-covered visual as its cover, then for its unique genre-agnostic approach to love and self-identity. Her third studio album, “Mud” retains the flirtatious, fun, and electric undertones of her previous albums “Juno” and “Big Ideas” while also holding an acoustic sincerity that is impossible to ignore. 

The songs flow with certainty and intentionality — pulling your heartstrings with storytelling that is clear and captivating. This is not only through intricate lyricism, but also through an inclination to not follow a typical structure in its songs. The track “Jamie,” for instance, contains a spoken interlude for two of its five minutes and immediately follows that up with an infectious guitar riff and an energetic vocal belt. 

The album generally shows an intuitive sense of what works in an album like this, such as predictable and catchy choruses and memorable lyrics. However, what differentiates “Mud” is its ability to take heart-wrenching lyrics like “Pretend it’s lucky but I know it’s not” and “I can’t fix what I don’t know is wrong” sound like phrases you can dance to. Despite this, some songs are more likely to be favorites than others. For example, “Wine Drunk”  (whose uninteresting lyrics tend to pale in comparison to other songs in the album) may be one that gets skipped after two or three listens. 

One thing that will never cease to impress is Wolf’s vocal range and commitment. The tracks in this album make bold choices that lead to an interesting listen and a dynamic range of songs. These choices are very on-brand to Wolf’s image, which is never subtle and always visually audacious.

Along with her upcoming tour, feature in the Amazon Prime Video drama series, “Off Campus,” and collaboration with John Mayer, “Mud” is one of many big things happening for Wolf at the moment.  The bright future ahead of her is anything but muddy.