When Fall Out Boy went on indefinite hiatus following 2007’s Folie A Deux, Patrick Stump seemed like the easy choice for “Most Likely To Have A Solo Career.” But while his other bandmates have kept themselves visible— guitarist Joe Trohman and drummer Andy Hurley with their rock band “The Damned Things;” bassist Pete Wentz with a new group “Black Cards” and a million other things, not least of which included directing the music video for Train’s Grammy winning “Hey Soul Sister”— things in the Stump camp went dark for a while.  Now, three years later, he returns to the spotlight with the release of an EP, Truant Wave.

Of the six tracks here, “Love, Selfish Love” hews closest to his past work, and it’s the best of the lot, with lyrics that are classic Stump (“god bless // the sad and selfish // stay helpless”) and a sweetly sad melody that, were its disco pulse swapped out for a more organic feel, would fit right in alongside Fall Out Boy tracks like “Sophomore Slump Or Comeback Of The Year” or “America’s Sweethearts.”  It also features an intro that’s weirdly reminiscent of Huey Lewis And The News’s “Heart And Soul,” but that’s hardly a bad thing.

Empowerment anthem “Spotlight (Oh Nostalgia)” mines from the same vein as K’naan’s “Waving Flag” and seems hallmarked for appearance in sporting event montages for the next decade, striking a celebratory tone — “the salad days are over // and meat is at my door.”  “Porcelain” is all unrestrained musical id — skittering electronic grooves strong enough to hold up under the weight of Stump’s wild vocal acrobatics eventually give way to a flashy drum solo, as if to prove he’s more than just a vocal talent. (He is). And “As Long As I Know I’m Getting Paid” would have been a massive hit at Studio 54.

While he’s exploring new musical territories here, the vocal melodies are classic late-period Fall Out Boy; it’s evident that Stump must have held strong sway over the writing process of Folie A Deux. Truant Wave also puts to rest any questions regarding Stump’s lyrical talents. In terms of cleverness, they come close to his work with Pete Wentz; in terms of wordplay, his use of sibilance and assonance is seriously next-level, a syncopated vocal funk that perfectly slots into his music’s tabs.  If anything, Stump sounds like he’s been unshackled.

Not all of his experiments work. “Big Hype”’s stomp is more like a plod, never quite getting off the ground.  And “Cute Girls” comes on with a verse that’s pure Michael Jackson but loses its plot in a barrage of spasmodic studio effects and a kludged-together train wreck of a melody that never seems to resolve, spoiling one of Stump’s strongest lyrics.

Stump has stated that Truant Wave is a compilation of tracks that wouldn’t quit fit on the full-length he’s brewing up, and it is indeed an inconsistent piece. Truant Wave feels a bit like a tour of Stump’s sonic playground; while there are plenty of exhilarating slides into the sandpit, there are also moments where he falls from the monkey bars. Not every one of these tracks is a winner, but ultimately that’s ok — it’s a joy just to hear him exploring the possibilities.  

***.5/*****

*This review was composed by Jesse Richman