"Real Emotional Trash," due March 4 on Malkmus' familiar Matador label, is the singer/songwriter's fourth album with The Jicks, following 2005's "Face the Truth." The set is the first Jicks' LP to feature former Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss, who joined the band as a full-time member last year.

A track from the new album, "Baltimore," is available as a free download from Matador Records' Malkmus mini-site.

"There's not really anything that's pop on there, I would say," Malkmus recently said of the album's musical content in an interview with Pitchforkmedia.com. "Maybe 'Hopscotch Willie' is catchy. There's some catchy things. It's like if you look at eBay rare acid folk psych albums and the guy will describe it in a positive way saying 'I don't see how there's any way this could possibly have sold a single copy when it came out,' and that's a good thing, you know? [laughs] But there's also catchy stuff."

Malkmus recently provided the singing voice for actress Cate Blanchett's take on Bob Dylan in the Todd Haynes-directed "I'm Not There," contributing his vocals for the songs "Ballad of a Thin Man," "Can't Leave Her Behind" and "Maggie's Farm." The biographical film uses six different actors to portray various stages of Dylan's life.