When Max Clarke made 2018’s Hollow Ground, his first album as Cut Worms, he played most of the instruments on it himself. With each subsequent release, his circle has grown wider and his collaborators have become more celebrated. Clarke specializes in the type of elevated pop rock that George Harrison, Harry Nilsson, and Big Star perfected in the ’70s and remains in fashion for a dedicated subset of musicians and listeners no matter how many decades pass. After Cut Worms opened for Wilco during a run of shows in 2024, Jeff Tweedy invited Clarke to record at The Loft, the group’s headquarters in Chicago. Tweedy not only produced Transmitter, but he also played guitar and bass on much of it, and brought in his bandmate Glenn Kotche to drum on a few songs. While not exactly a downer, the album finds Clarke sounding more worn out than usual. It’s a style that suits him, like a newly thrifted jacket. Transmitter is filled with lyrics about aimless walks, nights alone at the bar, and staying in the house for too long, but there remains a glimmer of hope within them. As he sings on “Long Weekend,” a peppy blast of melancholy, “Guess I’ve been downhearted lately/Feel the time accelerating again/Looking for your love to save me/From the mess I’ve gotten myself in.” Whether it’s in the studio or in a relationship, things do seem better when you’ve found the right someone who might understand you.