The Lonely Roller

Whether it's someone searching or someone who doesn't want to be found, we can't help but be drawn to the drifters. Steven A. Clark is that next stranger to roll into town, a restless artist recasting R&B. He's a straight-talker in a genre filled with wish-fulfillment, whimsy and cliched beats; think the Outlaw Josey Wales raised on N.E.R.D. and 808s & Heartbreak.

On "The Lonely Roller", the descriptions of emotions and bad breaks, of flawed characters extricating themselves from tragic affairs, aren't just a set-up or storytelling device. It's personal identification set to song, new additions to a canon looking for fresh blood. "I don't want to just be some guy trying to bring something back, but I always think there is room for a flawed character," Clark says. "The characters in the songs and me, they're often the same guy. That's why I use my actual name. There's no point in just talking about the character on stage." By pairing raw, confessional singing and personal stories with pulsing synthesizers and rhythms that hang in the air like a glowing grid of roadside neon, Clark is charting his own creative path.