Noisy Neighbors

Glenn Jones has never had to sing even one lyric to make his voice clearly heard. As the longtime guitarist for Boston’s post-rock progressives Cul de Sac, a group that, over a 20-year span, explored everything from psychedelic-tinged trance to krautrock minimalism, Jones has been at the center of a thriving instrumental underground for as long as most listeners can remember.

On his fourth solo album (and first for Chicago’s Thrill Jockey label), Jones furthers the exploratory path he’s committed himself to, with tranquil yet compelling acoustic steel-string guitar compositions built from thoughtful open tunings (“Of Its Own Kind’’), expressive bottleneck guitar (“Even to Win Is to Fail’’), and even banjo (“The Great Swamp Way Rout’’), an instrument recently taken under the songwriter’s wing.

“The Wanting’’ was recorded inside an Allston apartment amid the bustle of a city, but the comely melodies and lovely sense of calm on tracks like “My Charlotte Blue Notebook’’ suggest the music was made in a bucolic meadow clearing. Jones, a scholar and disciple of the late “American Primitive’’-style folk guitarist John Fahey (whose new box set, “Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You,’’ Jones produced), has again done his mentor and friend proud, and yes, spoken volumes with precision and feeling. (Out now)

Glenn Jones plays at Homegrown III: Boston’s Underground Music Festival on Oct. 14 at the Fourth Wall Project (132 Brookline Ave., Boston). Visit www.homegrownfestboston.com for details.