Kurt Wagner has often changed the style and the music of Lambchop.

However last year’s FLOTUS record might have been his most unpredictable step ever.

Filled to the brim with electronics, haunting, chilled vocals and ample use of Auto-Tune, the album was a world away from the alternative Americana of Wagner’s past, even if his distinctive vocal remained intact.

“It was a sort of natural progression to me,” says Kurt, ahead of playing Saint Luke’s next Wednesday.

“I’d been getting into dance music, and electronic music in general, and I was slowly trying to figure out how to work it into the type of music I was making, but I was never comfortable with how my voice sat within that sort of sound tapestry. When I discovered there was a processor that you could perform live with, then it made sense to me to try and start incorporating that into the thing that I do.

“In a short time I started writing with it, because it really is a versatile piece of equipment. So I’m enjoying allowing my voice to become as much an instrument as anything else. I’m looking for something new and challenging, to do something I haven’t done yet. That’s part of the fun of it for me.”

There’s not that many artists who could pull off such a switch, or even be looking for such change with a dozen albums under their belt. But the 58-year-old is a man always seeking to do different things, and to pursue the new, hence why the group’s line-up has never been set in stone.

They’re pared down to a trio for next week’s gig.

“As unusual as it sounds for Lambchop, it does seem to reflect where we are right now,” adds Kurt.

“It is something we haven’t presented in a long time, maybe back to when we put out Is A Woman [in 2002]. There was a period where the band was quite large and there was a lot of sound going on, whereas now the new songs are much more open sounding and it’s nice to see what some of the older songs are like in that setting too. It’s like the words in the songs themselves come more into focus.”

Whatever the line-up, the band will provide musical quality. A return to Scotland is something Kurt is eager for, especially given his fondness for so many acts that hail from here.

“We don’t get to go to Scotland as much as we like, but we do enjoy it,” he says.

“The people there are fantastic and I like all the greats musically – Mogwai, Belle & Sebastian, the Pastels, Camera Obscura. The music scene has always been close to my heart, it’s been fantastic for so many years there.”

It is common to find experienced musicians sticking to what they know, but Kurt’s tastes are wide-ranging. At the moment he is loving the aggressive slices of social commentary provided by Sleaford Mods, for instance.

“I think a lot of people maybe underestimate the power of what they are creating, because they distil things into its purest form,” he explains.

“They’re not young people but they have lived a life and are commentating on it in an honest and true form.”

That sort of attitude is a world away from his Nashville home, where music is more commercialised than ever.

“I thought it was bad when I started making music here in the 1980s but it has gone to several other levels,” he says.

“It’s really quite remarkable. I always thought it would still be a small industry town, but it has really exploded with this influx of musicians, producers and everything that goes with it. It does feel strange to me. I am almost pining for a quieter life.

“I’ve been here so long I’m like a little island now, surrounded by this development and growth in population…”

Lambchop, Saint Luke’s, Wednesday, £22.50, 7pm