Scan the liner notes of Lloyd Cole's latest album, Standards, and you won't find Bob Dylan's name attributed to any song or lyric, yet the American legend nonetheless provided no small measure of inspiration for the British songwriter's celebration of the electric guitar.
''I reviewed Bob Dylan's [2012] album Tempest and was struck by the fact he is still doing exactly the same thing he was doing in 1965,'' Cole said.
''The music might not be the same but I don't think he thinks about it any differently. I don't think he worries about what might be age-appropriate music. I don't think he knows what age he is.''
Cole, who will perform at the Glenroy Auditorium, Dunedin, on June 5, is speaking from his home in Easthampton, western Massachusetts, where he has lived for the past 14 or so years.
A few hours drive north of New York, a couple of hours from Boston, that proximity - or distance, depending on point of view - means the singer-songwriter can choose between quiet and clamour. Which is not unlike his last couple of albums.
In stark contrast to 2010's largely acoustic, country-tinged Broken Record, Cole's new batch of songs, released last year to strong reviews, is anything but laidback.
Standards is taut, at times brash, reinforcing a long-held aesthetic that straddles ''the campus library and the New York Dolls''.
Cole was last in Dunedin in 2011, when he toured with the Small Ensemble, comprising multi-instrumentalists Matt Cullen and Mark Schwaber.
This time around, he is performing solo on an eight-date New Zealand tour, a double bill with Los Angeles-based Kiwi singer-songwriter Greg Johnson.
''The economic reality is it's almost impossible for me to bring a rock band to New Zealand,'' Cole said.
''I expect I'll play three or four songs off Standards. I'm not going to try to create the same type of energy as on the record; I'll just pick the songs that might work best in an acoustic format and, hopefully, encourage people who haven't heard the record to listen to it.
''Even when you go on tour with a band, it can be quite difficult to get the same sound as on a record, so I don't worry about that sort of thing any more.''
The 53-year-old, who first came to prominence in 1984 with the release of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions' Rattlesnakes, has long mixed instinctive off-the-cuff melodies with well-edited crafted lyricism. And it seems he's not about to change.
''I don't try to avoid that scenario. It's always there when I write music. I love the New York Dolls and T-Rex; I love krautrock but, at the same time, the way I write lyrics is different to David Bowie or Marc Bolan or David Johansen.
''To be honest, that mixing of things is basically why I have a career. That aesthetic is my schtick.
''I have worried about lyrics over the years but I am naturally flamboyant with language. Left to my own devices, that's what tends to come out.''
Songs such as Lost Weekend, Perfect Skin, Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken?, Jennifer She Said and Like Lovers Do have helped Cole's albums reach the UK top 20 five times, while other tracks, including the hedonistic My Bag and introspective Mr Malcontent, have secured him a reputation as a lyricist able to adopt a range of personas.
''All I did on this record was not worry about whether the music was age-appropriate or concise enough and I just wrote with fewer filters than normal,'' Cole explains.
''To be honest, I'm really pleased with it. For better or worse, I'm the only person who could have made this album. That doesn't mean it's any good, but at least it has an aesthetic that might appeal to those who are familiar with my work.
''I didn't have an absolute concrete idea of how I wanted it to sound, but I did have all songs completed before entering the studio, as opposed to having to whip off a third verse to a song.
''It wasn't an itch I thought I needed to scratch. I did really think this sort of music was in my past, but a few things came together.
''The minute I thought I might have some songs that would suit a rock approach, it started to make sense. I called Fred Maher [drums] and Matthew Sweet* [bass] in Los Angeles because, of all the rhythm sections I know, they are the most rocking.''
Once recording arrangements had been confirmed, Cole said he became a different songwriter.
''I had no demos made, so all I said to Matthew and Fred was not to be gentle with the songs.''
As well as celebrating the sonic and textural variety of the electric guitar, Standards also revels in the notion of the small rock ensemble, in which the rhythm section's contribution is highlighted. In this case, it's a series of tight, metronomic beats.
''Fred pointed out at one stage while we were recording, 'that's the only ride cymbal on the whole record'. Indeed, it never really relaxes; it keeps pushing forward.''
Other notable contributions include Cole's son Will on guitar.
''The majority of the rhythm guitar on the record is me, but most of the lead guitar is played by him,'' Cole explains, adding Will wasn't on the record because he's his son, he's there because ''I like the way he plays''.
As with 2011's Broken Record, Cole adopted an increasingly popular method of financial support for his latest effort, asking 600 fans to pre-purchase the album to enable recording to begin..
''That allowed a week of studio time. There was no mucking around. We'd get up, have breakfast and head to the studio, record two or three songs, have dinner, go home and do it all again the next day.''
Cole has adopted a do-it-yourself ethos since removing himself from the ''major label rat-race'' in 1997 when he asked to be released from his contract with Polygram.
He has since rebuilt his career to the point where, following a decade in the United States as a ''folksinger'' performing mainly solo concerts, he now heads a thriving cottage industry that involves reissuing older albums, maintaining a website, marketing, writing and recording songs.
''The hub of the whole thing is my attic,'' Cole explains, adding the space is roughly divided into organisational and artistic zones.
''Without that type of activity, it would be very difficult to carry on.''
Though he has extended his passion for writing beyond lyricism, penning a range of journalistic articles from travel to popular culture, Cole says the money's no good. Hence, he'll stick largely with music as a source of income.
''I have done a little bit of writing but, to be honest, it doesn't pay very well. It would be difficult for me to maintain the standard of living I have now. Not that music pays particularly well, but ... I am still primarily a musician.
''This year I am touring a lot. Next year, I'll probably not tour at all and spend a fair bit of time making another record. But I don't expect to be a full-time musician in five or six years. I expect to be doing less.''
Such plans would allow more time for another passion: golf.
Cole, who plays off a single-figure handicap, has previously expressed a desire to compete on a state level in senior amateur golf. The requirement is he must be 55. Thus he has to wait a couple of years.
Then again, his form might need to improve, too.
''You should have seen me play today. I'm eligible for the scrapheap, really.''
*American Matthew Sweet, an acclaimed songwriter in his own right, has played bass on previous solo albums by Cole, and the British musician has reciprocated, playing guitar on Sweet's 1991 album Girlfriend.
Playing
Lloyd Cole performs at the Glenroy Auditorium, Dunedin, on June 5. The concert also features New Zealand songwriter Greg Johnson.
