Beat-heavy, electronica-based, falsetto-sprinkled lounge pop?

What do the Crash Test Dummies think they're doing?

"I think we succeed in alienating our fan base each time we put out an album," says Dummies frontman Brad Roberts with a hearty laugh.

The singer, best known for his rumbling baritone, was in town yesterday to talk about the fourth and latest offering from Winnipeg's most famous existing band.

Give Yourself a Hand is a major departure for the five-piece, best known for the hits Superman's Song and Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm.

It's a more loop-driven, futuristic sound for the Crash Test Dummies -- who began life as a Celtic folk act -- compared to their previous albums The Ghosts That Haunt Me, God Shuffled His Feet and A Worm's Life.

"It's the best record we've ever made," asserts Roberts. "I don't know if it will sell as well as our other records, but I'm more proud of it than anything I've done to date."

He even surprised himself with a major discovery while writing the album.

"I discovered a falsetto that I had no idea existed," explains Roberts, who shows off his new vocal skill in the first single, Keep a Lid on Things.

"When I started writing tunes with that, they started moving along more funky lines."

Listening to earlier songs like Afternoons and Coffeespoons, one wonders how he ever was able to reach a middle register, never mind anything close to a high pitch.

You can thank the Big Apple for that -- or more exactly, Harlem, where Roberts has been based for the past year and a half after spending a number of years in London, England.

"Being around people singing falsetto under your window everyday just rubbed off on me," he says.

"I started trying it out myself in the shower and I found I could do it."