Barenaked Ladies, “In Flight.”

On their new album, In Flight, Canadian quartet Barenaked Ladies address themes of growing old, keeping what’s most important close, and looking at life after the whole music thing sparkles and fades away.

While the album still revolves around the band’s signature folky acoustic pop-rock, there are plenty of additions thrown along the way. Opener “Lovin’ Life” may fit the mold—an upbeat singalong with vocalist Ed Robertson’s joyous and occasionally non-sequitur lyricism—but buried underneath it is a darker worry that “the world could end before the end of this song.” The glass-half-full listeners will instead zero in on the more comedic takes, such as, “We’re loving life/ It’s like a pizza and we want another slice.”

The song also compares his happy-go-lucky outlook to riding rollercoasters and to watermelon.

Robertson and co. lock into the groove on mid-tempo ballad “One Night,” which mixes rock atmospherics into the mix. The vocalist’s rhythmic cadence rolls off the tongue, the band providing lush background harmonies.

The latter half of the album contains a couple more songs that are instantly identifiable as Barenaked Ladies. Robertson’s vocals are warm on the mid-tempo “Clearly Lost” and “I Am Asking You To.” Same for Kevin Hearn’s singing on “The Peace Lady.” The latter song looks back at childhood. In fact, many of these songs either wistfully look backward or level-headedly forward in life.

Acoustic ballad “Enough Time” (with Hearn on lead vocals) sounds like an entirely different band, a throwback to another era with Neil-Young-esque intricate delivery, a harmonica providing a light backing. A couple of songs later, “Waning Moon” follows along the same lines, with Robertson waxing poetically about the future. He has a naturally honesty about growing older as both a musician and man, watching the world move faster around him.

The revelations are insightful and genuine, offering up a relatable human perspective for those of us long-removed from our 20s.

“Everywhere I go there’s another thing I don’t know,” Robertson sings.

The introspective “What We Need,” about the the realities of getting older and looking at life after music, adds an accordion into the mix.

“Where will we be after the spotlight fades?/ We’re gonna have to live in the slow lane/ We’re gonna have to learn to love the slow lane,” Robertson sings with an endearing honesty.

Bassist Jim Creeggan sings lead on “Just Wait,” a slow tune with a bluesy sway. His and Robertson’s vocals blend well. Their harmonization gives it a classical personality and smooth delivery.

The pace not only picks up, but turns decidedly country on the fiddle-laden “Fifty For a While.” The track tackles technology, algorithms and the siloing of society, yet manages to pull it off with a sort of innocence about it. Barenaked Ladies’ signature pop-rock returns on “Too Old,” a tongue-in-cheek cut with a memorable hook.

Keyboardist Kevin Hearn sings on “See The Tower,” which plays around with a variety of sounds, instruments and time signatures. The song is an ode to Toronto’s CN Tower, a landmark of that city’s skyline. Harmony-laden “Wake Up” brings a jazzy intimacy with brush snare drumming keeping the rhythm. Similarly, “The Dream Hotel” covers a lot of ground with intricate backing vocal harmonies and a spacious and staggered lead vocal.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.