Golden Bloom frontman and multi-instrumentalist Shawn Fogel is an optimist at heart. While in the past, he admits, he largely wrote songs about turbulent personal relationships, he has since shifted to tackle issues of more global appeal.

"These new songs are different," he says on the Golden Bloom website. "They come from a frustrated optimism, or an optimistic frustration. They're less about what's going on in my head and more about what's going on in our country and our planet."

Helping Fogel realize this vision are several producers, each of whom lends a distinct flavor to the album Fan the Flames. With their help, what emerged were tunes that wouldn't feel out of place as an old Wilco B-side or on an old Shins record.

"A great album is only as good as the sum of its parts," he says. "In the end, each song was well suited to the individual producer's style and influence."

On stage these same songs become something else entirely, thanks in part to Fogel's version of a live performance collective. The lineup for any given night is ever-changing, in the hope that no two shows will be identical. Core members of the collective include Deleon frontman Dan Saks, Brooklyn guitarist Jeff Patlingrao, Guster member Josh Cohen, bassist Ryan Ball and music journalist Michael Azerrad.

Golden Bloom plays the Basement at Pearl Street on Nov. 7 with Northampton indie rockers The True Jacqueline. Each band plays a set before the two join forces to recreate in its entirely the 1978 debut album by original power-poppers the Cars.

For more information on Golden Bloom or The True Jacqueline, visit www.goldenbloom.net and www.myspace.com/thetruejacqueline.