When Jason Molina first appeared as Songs: Ohia, it was difficult, if not impossible, to determine where he intended to go with his music. The self-titled debut suggested another Midwestern kid deeply influenced by Will Oldham, an impression already made when Molina’s first single, “Nor Cease Thou Never Now,” was released on Oldham’s Palace Records (and had a title as challenging as Oldham’s syntax). Impala, however, followed up the debut with less rustic instrumentation and more solid, unquantifiable indie rock, with drums, lingering organs, and songs where casting a spell seemed to be more important than breaking through the haze. “An Ace Unable to Change” took nearly eight minutes to unspool, while “This Time Anything Finite at All” took just four. This was a songwriter who’d heard Neil Young’s On the Beach and understood it intuitively. Future Molina albums helped this one find its context, as an introduction to a stubborn style of songwriting that would hold for a half-dozen albums before Molina broke off into a more expansive project with The Magnolia Electric Co.