Absolute Loser, the first Fruit Bats album in over four years, finds Eric D. Johnson settling back into his groove of laid-back, acoustic guitar-propelled indie. It still suits him quite well. A veteran of the contemporary folk-rock world, and a former member of The Shins, Johnson offers a follow-up to 2011’s Tripper in the form of 10 solid tracks that showcase both his songwriting skill and instantly recognizable voice. There have been a lot of nasal-leaning vocalists in the indiefolk world, but it would be hard to find someone who pulls it off with such aplomb, a credit to the strength and control with which Johnson sings. Lead track and first single “From a Soon-to-Be Ghost Town” has a country twinge, and “My Sweet Midwest,” an ode to the Chicago native’s home region, seems to draw influence a few hundred miles south in Nashville. Johnson’s lyrics are thoughtful and, at times, didactic, as in the bouncy “None of Us” (“You say you’re in tune with this/ but you’re not immune, kid) and the lilting closer “Don’t You Know That.” Johnson tries his best to create a new genre called banjo-disco on “Humbug Mountain Song,” and the effort pays off as an album highlight.