Doug Martsch, singer/guitarist of indie gods Built To Spill, has got the blues. .. literally.

Abandoning the trademark electric-guitar wailing that fittingly accompanied the singer’s emotive, whiny warble, Martsch has opted for an acoustic guitar and a bottleneck on his first solo offering. With Neil Young evenly swapped for Robert Johnson, we’re left with a pleasing collection of downbeat, down-home indie blues called Now You Know.

What we do know is that Martsch is one hell of a guitar player and the blues direction taken here allows him to explore roads less traveled. Gone is the distorted guitar drooling that eclipsed so many BTS records, and it’s a surprising thing. Remember that this comes from a man who included a 17-minute version of “Cortez the Killer” on his last live record. The familiar Built To Spill-esque melodies are still intact, but the Delta blues stance gives the songs a classic feel. On songs like “Offer” and “Dream,” Martsch takes one step closer to selling his soul to the devil.

The standout here is “Window,” which combines country guitar with a chugging, rapid Built To Spill melody. It’s a moment where Martsch’s indie rock sensibility and blues curiosity come together perfectly. Stuck in the middle of the record, it serves as the centerpiece, ushering in the sparse, acoustic nature of the first half and then builds to a frenzied pace, linking it to the indie-blues rocking finale.

This is certainly one of Martsch’s most inspired collection of songs. Not since the 1997 masterpiece, Perfect From Now On, has Martsch sounded so confident. Instead of pouring his heart out for the duration of the record, Martsch takes some interesting detours.

Specifically, a cover of Mississippi Fred McDowell’s “Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind on Jesus)” takes a spiritual route, providing pleasant solace from the expected emotional baggage usually contained in Martsch’s lyrics.

Built To Spill have always been downers. Now You Know continues along those lines, with the use of the bottleneck naturally taking the music to all-time emotional lows. Still, there’s something triumphant in the way that Martsch sings, “Now you know/How can you ever say why?”

This is an interesting and successful addition to the Built to Spill legacy.