The previous record from Kyle Thomas’ long running King Tuff project – 2018’s The Other – was something of a soft reset, shifting away from Thomas’ garage rock / stoner rock roots and moving into mellower territory. Five years on, this latest (crucially, post-lockdown) offering continues on that path but goes much further, totally abandoning those roots. Instead of garage rock, Smalltown Stardust is a psyche-tinged guitar pop record with its feet firmly in the late 60s and early 70s. It features, for example, beat-combo jamming on the lovely ‘Portrait of God’ (McCartney, in particular, would be proud), and Simon and Garfunkel acousticing on the morose ‘Pebbles in a Stream’. It’s worth being clear that Smalltown Stardust is more than just homage, though. For instance, the opening to ‘The Bandits of Blue Sky’ is nostalgia rock through a shiny 2023 lens, and nobody could accuse the minimal ‘Always Find Me’ of being ‘retro’. Nonetheless, reminders of the record’s basis in the flower power era are never too far away. The results are beautiful and heartfelt, if not exactly groundbreaking. This is comfortably my favourite King Tuff record – the new direction clearly suits Thomas – and there’s scope here (with some more risks taken) to create something really special on future releases.