Richard Edwards, lead vocalist and guitarist of chamber-pop outfit Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s, has a unique memory tied to the last time he played at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor.

“This girl named Clare, who was taking pictures, just got on the bus and finished the tour (with us),” recalled Edwards. “She instantly regretted it. She forgot her camera, so we didn’t get any photos. And we had to buy her clothes.”

Sans charity-clothed Clare, Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s return to the Blind Pig on Tuesday, September 21, also the release date of the group’s latest LP, “Buzzard.”

Listen to Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s "New York City Hotel Blues" (MP3).

The group, hailing from Indianapolis, recorded its latest effort in Chicago, where Edwards now resides.

According to Edwards, the Blind Pig is a stop he and the band — currently consisting of Brian Deck (drums), Erik Kang (violin, lap steel, guitar), Ronnie Kwasman (guitar), Cameron McGill (keyboards, vocals, harmonica) and Tyler Watkins (bass, vocals) — are prone to map on their tour.

“The Blind Pig is always one of the highlights. Whenever we see it on our schedule we’re really happy it’s there,” said Edwards, who appreciates The Blind Pig’s hospitality in all its forms.

“I really like the venue and I always like the people that are there. It seems like we always have nice people that come out,” said Edwards.

And perhaps most importantly, “There’s a working bathroom upstairs … (a functioning bathroom) is more uncommon than you might think …”

In the vein of venues, Edwards and company settled into a unique locale to lay down “Buzzard” — an abandoned movie theater, which doubled as Edwards’ home, in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village neighborhood.

Adding to the abnormality, Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s recorded only between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. without the use of artificial light; save for the occasional candle, the group was engulfed in darkness.

“We’re trying to do things that shake it up so it doesn’t feel like Groundhog Day,” explained Edwards. “If we’re (recording) in the same way and have the same production it runs the risk of maybe feeling that we’re picking up where we left off (from the last record) instead of starting something new.”

One can hear the band’s new sound and direction on “Buzzard.”

“Buzzard”’s opener “Birds” treads on Edward’s plucking guitar, topped with peacefully dark verses that rise to a falsetto before evolving into static-y, belting choruses. It’s a prime example of Margot’s evolution since its predecessors — “Animal!, twin Not Animal” and “The Dust of Retreat” — which were backboned by an array of instrumentation, yielding a jubilee of big sounds and sing-along croons.

“Buzzard” runs the gamut from dark humored folk (the track “Lunatic, Lunatic, Lunatic” paints the portrait of an untameable co-ed), to cut-to-the-bone honest pop (“Your Lower Back” spills the unshakable emotions tied to exes) to primitive grunge (“Claws Off” swells of the paranoia revolving pain and death).

It’s the raw and varied finished product Edwards hoped to shake out when he and his counterparts settled into an abandoned movie theater.

“I like it a lot,” said Edwards. “That fact that I still think it’s pretty cool is probably a good thing.

“I think the potential for the next thing after this is really high. I feel like we may have laid some really cool groundwork to do something that tops it.”

Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s play at the Blind Pig, 208 South First Street, on Tuesday, September 21. Doors open at 9 p.m. Tickets are $12 in advance or $14 at the door.

Kaleb Roedel is a reporter for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2562 and kalebroedel@annarbor.com.

Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s performing live in Illinois earlier this year: