Long before the age of AI deep fakes, Alex Cameron emerged as Australia’s most irreverent indie-pop auteur by perpetually blurring the line between what’s real and what’s fabricated. Do his unfiltered lyrics amount to an expression of alpha-male bravado or a savvy satire of toxic masculinity? Does his affinity for synth-sparkled ’80s dentist-office rock suggest a sincere appreciation of cheesy pop music, or is he holding a mirror up to yuppie capitalism’s worst excesses? The answer often lies somewhere in the middle, and Cameron’s fifth album, Late to Set, introduces us to a whole new cast of antiheroes, like the philandering father welcoming prostitutes into his family home on “Testosterone in Blue,” or the ransom-demanding kidnapper presented in an almost valorous light on the serene, Neil Diamond-like serenade “No Guns Come Alone.” But even this master ironist is feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders, prompting Cameron to periodically dislodge his tongue from cheek. “Statue Down” may roll in on a chintzy, Casio-level tropical beat, but its barely concealed contempt for authoritarians and sexual predators spurs the song’s transformation into a genuine rabble-rousing protest anthem. And, sacrilegious title aside, the empty-church hymn “Jesus Never Had No Porno” eventually reveals itself as a heartfelt plea for deeper spiritual connection in a world choking on consumerism and doomscrolling. Favorite track: “Red Hook Rain,” which sounds like an ’80s John Hughes-soundtrack standard cast against a backdrop of modern-day climate anxiety (while reminding us why Cameron was tapped for co-writes on a couple of Killers albums).