Hamilton Leithauser, an Indie-Rock Hero in a Very Fancy Room

Even by Manhattan real estate standards, Café Carlyle is an intimate venue. The storied Upper East Side cabaret is just 988 square feet and seats 90 patrons, which means a performer can hear an audience member’s cutlery, not to mention their whispers.

When Hamilton Leithauser first played there in 2018, that cozy ambience posed an unexpected challenge: He had to be not just a performer, but also an entertainer. That meant talking to the audience, something he hadn’t been inclined to do when onstage as the frontman of the indie-rock doyens the Walkmen, who relied on reverberating guitars and clever wordplay to catapult to the forefront of the early 2000s New York music scene.

“People are right in front of you, and you want to talk to them between songs,” he said in a recent video interview. “I really wanted to let people in on what I was actually singing about, because I spend so much time on my words.” He’s been a fixture ever since.

Leithauser returns to the Carlyle this month for the seventh go-round of what’s become an annual residency (he missed a year during the Covid-19 pandemic), playing a slate of 15 shows from March 6-29. This time, he has a new album, “This Side of the Island,” to trot out too. Compared to his last few solo releases, “This Side of the Island” sounds a bit more frenetic and urgent, which he is aware will bring an interesting dimension to the snug confines of the Carlyle, which was bought by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts in 2001 for $130 million and regularly hosts artists like Isaac Mizrahi and John Pizzarelli.

“That room doesn’t see that much of that kind of music,” he said of his new songs. “I’ve got to do my own thing. I’m not ready to grow up fully, you know?”

For the record, Leithauser, 46, is married to Anna Stumpf, an audio executive with whom he occasionally performs, and is the father to two daughters. Still, the sentiment stands: Leithauser has built a successful career largely by following his own instincts.