Lambchop

At Brighton Music Hall, March 28

at 8 p.m. Tickets $18, 800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com

The inimitable, idiosyncratic Nashville band Lambchop has been making music for more or less a quarter-century now. Originally lumped in with the then-current alternative country movement (a label that has long since ceased to be remotely applicable to Lambchop, if it ever was), over time the band has drawn on myriad musical styles, from soul to countrypolitan to rock to stately pop, all the while maintaining a singular, consistent sound. And from the beginning, the wondrously oddball Kurt Wagner has been orchestrating it all: His cryptic, compelling songs, his dry, enunciative vocals (or, sometimes, his full-blown falsetto) and his equally dry wit have defined the band’s sound and its sensibilities. The band comes to Brighton Music Hall March 28 on a tour supporting its latest release, “FLOTUS,’’ which finds Wagner venturing perhaps as far as he ever has into new waters, introducing elements of electronic music and incorporating vocal processing, beats, and programming. We spoke to him about the new record and how it came about.

Q. You wrote an essay that appeared on the website Medium that discusses the origins of the new Lambchop record. I don’t recall you doing that sort of thing for earlier records; is that something you thought you needed to do for this one?

A. Traditionally, whenever I give a record to the label they ask me to explain myself a little bit (laughs). That's been going on for years. Oddly enough, they decided to try publishing this Medium thing, which was fine with me. Really, it's just me trying to guide the labels through what this is all about, and I think it is a little helpful for some people who are interested in process. Articulating what you’ve made, I think, is healthy for both the artist and the listener.

Q. Where did the impetus to explore this type of music come from?

A. After we finished the touring cycle for “Mr. M’’ [the previous Lambchop record], I was getting deeply into dance music and electronic music. I read this great book about the disco scene in the mid to late ’70s in New York. It was a revelation in that I saw these connections between that and my experience just in the same way, but in indie rock. So I was interested to explore that. I made a record [as HeCTA] with a couple of the other guys in Lambchop, and in that experience I learned a lot about the techniques, the software, how you make that kind of music. It opened up a new way of writing for me, particularly once I found this voice processor. It became evident that I could write a record pretty much with just my voice and a computer program, as opposed to just writing with the guitar and singing into a tape recorder, which is the way I used to operate.

Q. This isn’t the first time that Lambchop has changed musical directions, but “FLOTUS’’ might be more of a radical changeup for the band than anything previously.

A. The record falls outside of what most people who listen to us listen to, and because of that it’s a little bit of a challenge. But those sounds are really an accepted part of what we take in as music now. The sound of a processed voice has become a very accepted part of music. My idea was: Well, why not try it?

Q. It is striking that, with your use of these new techniques and unfamiliar elements, “FLOTUS’’ still sounds like a Lambchop record.

A. I’ve always attributed it [the Lambchop sound] to the players, the people that have been involved in what we do all these years. And of course, I guess my voice to some extent. But the sound itself is Tony Crow, it’s Matt Swanson, it’s all these guys who were making a sound together that was unique to themselves. I've really worked hard to try to stay out of their way and let them be the artists they want to be.

Q. The record’s title is an acronym for “For Love Often Turns Us Still.’’ But it is also typically shorthand for “First Lady of the United States,’’ and the record’s cover [a painting by Wagner of his wife, Mary Mancini, the chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party] also points to that usage.

A. When I turned the record in, I had to choose between the two. For me, it is a record about love and the appreciation of love over the course of time. Part of my existence also has to do with the fact that I’m a supportive element of my wife’s life and her career in politics, which is very much what to me “FLOTUS’’ is.

Q. It seems that no matter what it does, Lambchop continues to be labeled an “alt-country’’ band. Do you get tired of that?

A. I think it never really applied to begin with. At the time they didn’t know what to call a lot of music, so they called it alt-country or Americana. Nashville has become the center of Americana music and they have these awards shows, and it’s really good for a lot of artists. It gives them a home and a place to celebrate each other. I have never been considered or asked to participate in anything involving that, which is sort of ironic, seeing I’m tagged as an Americana artist. It really does show that in a lot of ways what we do is still very much outside of what Nashville is. That was the case when we started and it’s still the case today.

Lambchop

At Brighton Music Hall, March 28 at 8 p.m. Tickets $18, 800-745.3000, www.ticketmaster.com

Interview was edited and condensed. Stuart Munro can be reached at sj.munro@verizon.net.