What Comes After the Blues, Molina's seventh full-length, harkens back to the brooding, Neil Young-flavored country rock laments of Magnolia Electric Co., the final Molina-led Songs: Ohia album that confusingly (but appropriately) inspired this new venture's name. Forlorn and full of Midwestern despair, What Comes After the Blues is a arresting slice of classic Molina melancholy, all spiraling guitars and flannel-fueled disdain. Opener "The Dark Don't Hide It" (previewed on the recent live release Trials and Errors) features a sweet, rolling melody and loads of slide guitar, while folk dirge "The Night Shift Lullaby" nods to the rich musings of On the Beach (even guest vocalist/songwriter Jennie Benford's high, warbly coo seems preoccupied with channeling Young's nasal remorse). On "Leave This City," Molina mews geographic laments over a lone, yawping trumpet, nodding "It's true, it was a hard time that I come through/ It's made me thankful for the blues"-that Molina is grateful for sadness should come as no surprise, and What Comes After the Blues is enough to make us equally appreciative.