If nothing else, no one can accuse Deerhunter of making the same album twice. Their discography has shifted between hypnotic shoegaze to abrasive garage rock to doo-wop informed dream pop. But their discography is even further augmented by Atlas Sound and Lotus Plaza, the twin solo projects of co-lead singers Bradford Cox and Locket Pundt.

While Atlas Sound has always seemed to stretch forward, forecasting future shifts in Deerhunter’s sound, Lotus Plaza prefers to linger, leaving no stone unturned.  2009’s The Floodlight Collective saw Pundt exploring the same blissed-out gaziness of Cryptograms, free of Bradford’s push to move Deerhunter away from a reliance on effects pedals.

In the same way, Spooky Action at a Distance takes the jangling pop of Halcyon Digest and rests there a while. And considering that the best song on that disc was Pundt’s “Desire Lines,” the return is a welcome one.

Spooky Action is miles more straightforward than The Floodlight Collective, but it still meanders. Layers of guitars are piled onto each other as clouds of synths and looping drum figures.

The album starts with a short ambient swell, then kicks off into “Strangers,” a track driven by a repeated snare fill, ascending guitar arpeggios, and the least flashy guitar solo ever. “Out of Touch” pounds with a floor tom, a jangling guitar chord, and a blipping synth. “Dusty Rhodes” plays like a dream pop redux of America.  “Monoliths” is the closest thing to a rocker here, bursting with anthemic guitar chords. “Jet Out of Tundra” adds a healthy dose of Neu-ish krautrock.

But for all of the dreaminess, Lotus Plaza takes a step out of the haze. Locket’s voice is actually intelligible, no longer buried in the mix. His songwriting shares the spotlight with his sonic layering, and it doesn’t come up short. There’s even an acoustic ballad! (The closer, “Black Buzz“). On Spooky Action, Pundt proves that he’s more than just a conjurer of lush atmospheres. He is a capable songwriter in his own right.