Ever since forming in 2008 and releasing their debut album, 2012’s My Father and the Hunter, Two-time JUNO award-winning alternative group The Strumbellas have steadily shared follow-ups containing every ounce of folk-tinged gusto, from 2013’s We Still Move on Dance Floors to 2016’s Hope to 2019’s Rattlesnake. The band will soon round the corner with a brand-new fifth studio album, Part Time Believer (out February 9), a collection that signals The Strumbellas’ grand return and rebirth.

“We had a slow pandemic,” says David Ritter of the period between Rattlesnake and Part Time Believer. Unable to tour, The Strumbellas put every last bit of energy into perfecting Part Time Believer, spending days behind the scenes composing and writing songs. “There was no real pressure,” adds Jon Hembrey. “We kind of went into it with the thought of, ‘Hey, let’s just write what we write, and then sift through all that and find what we want.’ This was the time when we had the most material to draw from. It was a deliberative, collaborative process.”

Out of their sessions came nearly 50 tracks, which the band — now with Jimmy Chauveau on board as lead vocalist — whittled down to 12. Shepherding the recording process along was producer Ben Allen (Gnarls Barkley, Kaiser Chiefs, Walk the Moon), with additional tracks produced by Keith Varon (Machine Gun Kelly, Lindsey Stirling), Stevie Aiello (30 Seconds To Mars), and Dave Schiffman (RHCP, The Killers, Adele). Packed with poignant lyrics surrounded by bombastic, folk-driven melodies, Part Time Believer continues The Strumbellas’ long-standing tradition of mood-meshing. The anthemic opener “Hold Me” is one of the rare Strumbellas love songs, though, in true fashion, it’s tinged with melancholy. “It’s a lot about feeling sad,” Ritter expands. “It’s love and depression, love and dark times and what it means to be loved and need love at your lowest, and what people can mean to each other when they’re down.”

Even the title Part Time Believer (taken from the acoustic-led, slow-marching “Steal My Soul”) marks a new venture in The Strumbellas’ penchant for big, brightly coloured melodies overlaying cerebral verses. Weaving in a touch of religious imagery, the arena-filling “Steal My Soul,” blends piano and electric-guitar accents, feather-light harmonies, swelling strings, and a powerful, chanting chorus. “We all have demons and it’s up to us to hold on to ourselves as we face them down,” says Ritter

Part Time Believer, meanwhile, is intended to capture The Strumbellas’ sonic discrepancies. “I think of our sound as containing some contradictions,” Ritter says. “Sad lyrics, happy music. Or a song is formulated in a dark bedroom somewhere, and it’s really depressing, and it’s about struggling with mental health or a dark period you’re going through in your life. But it goes from this bedroom to the rehearsal room, and we dance around and sing together. There are contradictory elements that are part of our DNA. We’re serious about certain things, but maybe only halfway.”

Elsewhere, the piano chiming “Holster” contemplates the idea of running in place and feeling like you aren’t living up to your potential. “We all get caught in a holster, but it’s all in our head,” the sextet declares in rising harmony. “‘We’re Canadians, we don’t like to talk about guns,” Hembrey laughs. “But ‘Holster’ is not about using the gun or the gun fulfilling its potential. It’s the place where the gun is resting or is waiting to be used. It’s this feeling of having things that you want to do, things you want to figure out — you just can’t quite get there.”

Finally, the piano-pop ballad “Running Out of Time” is a yearning meditation about time passing, envisioning future goals, and coming to terms with the result. “It’s funny to feel prematurely old at different ages,” Ritter says. “I think people often feel like things are escaping them, or they’re trying to grab on to something — happiness, gratitude, professional or personal goals — and for some reason, they just can’t get there. Even if they get the thing they want, it doesn’t feel the way they thought it would. A lot of these songs are about trying to figure out why we’re all feeling this way, and how we can find more peace in our lives.”

As The Strumbellas head into their next chapter, their shared vision and cohesiveness as a band has never been stronger. “I sometimes look back on how long we’ve been together and think it’s remarkable that we still like each other so much,” Ritter laughs. “The band really is my other family… We remain best friends, and we still have so much fun playing shows and making music together.”