Jason Chung, a.k.a. Nosaj Thing, has a knack for confounding listeners by stacking up a handful of straightforward sounds, then giving them the slightest, sinister push. With his previous albums, Home and especially his now-classic debut, Drift, the prevailing sense that something was just a little bit off-kilter kept me coming back for more, frequently rewinding to figure where things had started to go awry. Unfortunately, Fated (Innovative Leisure) appears to be a transitional record for Mr. Chung. The best bits harken back to his earlier records, but the rest feels underdeveloped or unfinished, and there’s little that compares favorably to what’s come before.

There are a lot of short tracks on this record that don’t really go anywhere. Mr. Thing’s most memorable work demonstrates how subtle changes (like shifting a hi-hat to the left or removing a single note from the bass line) can have big impact, especially when used in combination over the course of a slowly shifting four-minute track. However, of the 16 tracks on Fated, only eight last more than two minutes, and only one breaks the three-minute mark. That’s a complete reversal of his previous pattern. So we get lots of small ideas in small pieces with small statements. There’s not much changing and not much into which to sink your teeth. Even when white-hot rhymesmith Chance the Rapper shows up, it’s slight work for both the host and his guest.

“Let You” and “Medic” are more involving and are therefore the exceptions that prove the rule. Processed vocal samples mixed up with minimal drums, broken synths, and occasional meter changes yield enough surprises to reward repeated listening. “Phase IV” and “Light #5,” both installments in his cross-release series of experiments, take sideways steps. Like the album as a whole, they expand the breadth of his work, but they fail to take it much further.