It’s a bit strange to think of Mary Timony as one of the veterans, but it’s true—over a decade and a half later, she’s still out there playing shows and putting out records. This Aversion interview plays up the not-so-oddity of her being an old-school indie artist at a time when “indie rock” has become shorthand for a fairly popular style of music. The contrast can be hard to see if you’ve been following Timony’s career in isolation, as I often do with artists I really like; the progression she’s made from Autoclave and the early Helium days through to this year’s The Shapes We Make (under the Mary Timony Band moniker) makes sense until you zoom out and place Timony’s career in context. Suddenly her choices don’t seem so obvious, and she looks much more like a lone trailblazer. After all, putting out an album like 2002’s The Golden Dove, so wrapped up in layers of medieval atmosphere and fantastic imagery, would be strange in any year, but especially in a year when the likes of Wilco and Interpol topped end-of-year lists.

Ex Hex and The Shapes We make are more conventional albums for Timony, but the angle of attack is still very different. She’s not afraid of protracted prog-odyssey guitar epics, and the matter-of-fact, lazy afternoon rebellion attitude on songs like “Pause/Off” reminds me most of—dare I say it?—The Dirt of Luck. While not as immediately pleasing as Ex Hex, Timony’s latest album is a fast grower, and lighter on its feet to boot. Recommended.