Gary Louris has been best known as the longtime leader of the Jayhawks, a Minneapolis-based band that once was one of the leading lights of the Americana movement. But over almost four decades, that band evolved into a more pop-oriented, less definable (but no less appealing) outfit.

Despite the ever-expanding definition of what Jayhawks music is, it’s clear that Jump for Joy, Louris’ second solo album (not counting an acoustic EP released concurrently with the first one, Vagabonds), proves Louris has more to say, and more ways to say it than his band typically affords. Though a few of the songs on Jump for Joy would not have been out of place on a Jayhawks record—“Almost Home” or “White Squirrel,” perhaps—it’s clear that others were simply too personal and/or too dense for that. They needed a different outlet.

Take for example the new album’s closer, “Dead Man’s Burden,” an eight-minute epic driven by a lovely piano-based melody with a complex lyric about regret and learning many of life’s lessons—both individual and societal—too late. This is not a Jayhawks song; it is a Gary Louris song. So too is the title track, which despite its title, is not particularly joyous.

The rationale for a Louris’ solo album, if one is needed, is further epitomized by “Mr. Updike.” On the Jayhawks’ 2016 album, Paging Mr. Proust, Louris name-checked not only Marcel Proust, but also David Foster Wallace and Robert Frost. On Jump for Joy, he does a fuller rumination on Pulitzer-winning author John Updike, on one of his most celebrated characters, Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom. There’s also a line about the prospect of meeting the literary giant: “Were there secrets that you couldn’t entrust/ Your old friend Mr. Smith-Corona/ Oh John, it would have been so good to know ya.”

Louris is a versatile songwriter who has collaborated with a variety of notable musicians as a player, songwriter and producer, including The Chicks, Ray Davies and Jakob Dylan. He also has lighter fare on Jump for Joy that shows his gift for melodies to strong advantage. “New Normal”—written in 2009—is jaunty, atmospheric and charming. Its light feel, augmented by electronic blips and bleeps, has only a slightly jarring guitar solo interrupting the dreamy idyll. “Follow” and “Living In Between” both sound as if they could be on heavy rotation on a ’60s top-40 radio station, with great background choruses. On a “Living In Between” there’s a wonderful guitar solo. “Almost Home” is also a breezy pop song and a great listen.

Instrumentally, Louris is primarily a guitarist. But on Jump for Joy, he played all instruments. He wrote all of the songs between 2009 and 2018. His lead work probably draws its closest comparison with Neil Young. But his guitar playing on Jump for Joy doesn’t dominate. Instead, it comes at strategic moments. Most of the songs here aren’t built on that, but rather on melodies created by a mix of various instruments, including synthesizer and piano. He isn’t necessarily an expert on those latter two, and it’s a testament to the songs themselves that most of them on Jump for Joy are strong enough to stand comfortably on their own, regardless.

Jump for Joy gives Louris an opportunity to wax poetic and musically in ways that don’t always fit in with his longtime band, and he comes through with words and music that are new directions for him.

On “Living In Between,” Louris sings, “I’m just a simple man in a complicated world.” Don’t believe that for a minute.

Follow journalist Sam Richards at Twitter.com/samrichardsWC.