Fans of early-2000s NYC rock ’n’ roll might remember Inouk, a buzzy, next-big-band that emerged in The Strokes’ wake. Fronted by Damon McMahon and his brother Alexander, Inouk released a killer EP in 2004—and proceeded to implode shortly thereafter. But Damon and his voice, which is both incredibly enchanting and insanely off-kilter, still seemed destined for stardom. Anyone can learn to play an instrument, in theory—you have to be born with a voice like Damon’s. A few labels tried to snag him post-Inouk, but he declined to play the game. After a stint away from music where he moved to China, Damon decided to go his own way as Amen Dunes, which has now floated just outside of the indie rock establishment for nearly a decade.

One reason for Amen Dunes’ outsider status is Damon’s records defy easy categorization, approaching neat genres before swerving into the aural ether. It’s the kind of music that the critic corps doesn’t know exactly what to do with (but loves to label with inventive descriptions). Is it psych-folk? Astral rock? Spiritual bedroom pop? But Damon doesn’t mind being on the edge of the scene. As I learned when we met in the quietest room in the entire East Village—he was nursing his vocal cords ahead of his first string of shows in three years—the 38-year-old Brooklynite doesn’t care much for convention, nor does he do things people expect musicians to do. He doesn’t like to listen to music, for one. He avoids reading the news. He’s spent much of his Amen Dunes career shying from frontman-like visibility. But this intentional detachment has allowed McMahon to meticulously hone his shape-shifting sound, which culminates in Amen Dunes’s fifth album, Freedom—out today and easily one of the best records of 2018.

Damon spent the better part of three years making Freedom, and though it shrugs off the serrated introspection of his earlier albums, he says it’s his most personal to date. It’s also the grooviest, full of dreamy synths and guitar riffs that will surprise longtime Amen Dunes fans for their danceability. For Damon’s first-ever fashion shoot—not for lack of editors trying—we immediately thought of a brand that shares his New York roots and independent edge: Alyx. So GQ Style editor-in-chief Will Welch hit up Alyx designer Matthew Williams, who jumped at the opportunity to creative direct the shoot. “Will and I had lunch and were talking about music and fashion, and he asked me if I’d heard of this guy Damon,” says Matt. “He said the music’s really really cool, it feels really aligned with Alyx. He sent me some links and I loved Damon’s imagery and the way he uses archival footage of skaters in his videos. His natural style feels really aligned with how I dress personally, and obviously that’s what the men’s Alyx clothes are about. And of course the music is amazing. So I was like yeah man, let’s do something together.”

Check out Amen Dunes’s new record here, and see the full shoot and Q+A below.

Tactical vest, $1,210, by Alyx / Tank top by Calvin Klein Underwear / Jewelry his own Coat, $2,650, by Alyx x Mackintosh / Pants, $655, by Alyx / Boots, $655, by Alyx x Roa

GQ Style: Was there ever a point when you considered giving up music entirely? I know you moved to China for a few years before releasing your first Amen Dunes record.

Damon McMahon: Definitely. I went to China to escape New York. I was burned out on the music scene here, so I tried to cut out from it completely. But I came back because a label was interested in putting out the first Amen Dunes record, D.I.A., and I thought I’d try to do it again. I recorded it on my own, just for myself. And then some people from my past who heard it were kind of disturbed by it.