Snow Patrol, “The Forest is the Path.”

U.K. band Snow Patrol allowed the seasons to change on its eighth album, The Forest is the Path, its first in six years. While it’s another work full of lush and expressive forlorn anthems, the band is a trio now, following the recent departures of drummer Jonny Quinn and bassist Paul Wilson.

The band’s sound still reverberates around the baritone vocals of Gary Lightbody. The frontman brings identifiable vulnerability to the record’s quietest moments; even the slightest tremble is audible.

Lyrically, the record revolves around love and relationships from afar. Not having a relationship of his own for about a decade, Lightbody turns to introspection with the benefit of the passage of time. The tracks do a deep dive into past relationships.

“So I guess this a love song after all/ I think I might have lied before; I don’t recall,” Lightbody sings on opener “All.”

It’s not all slow and serious. Most of The Forest Is the Path leans upbeat. Soaring tracks like “The Beginning” expertly bring together quiet verses and a rhythmic and atmospheric piano- and guitar-driven choruses.

“If I made a mess of everything, dear/ By being scared of what you give me/ I am sorry unequivocally/ I just don’t know how to love,” Lightbody sings.

“Everything’s Here and Nothing’s Lost” starts with a quiet acoustic intimacy before exploding into a light rock chorus with a harmonized background vocal that hits the spot. The upbeat melodic personality continues on the atmospheric “Your Heart Home.” Again, the attention to detail really pays dividends. Even if the songs aren’t overly complicated, they have the right touch.

The first truly quiet moment comes on the swaying balladry of “This is the Sound of Your Voice.” The expansive instrumentation allows plenty of room for Lightbody’s voice to carry the track.

“I’ve waited for you love so long, dear,” he sings, further driving home the lyrical motif of the record.

The band revisits the mood later on  somber song “These Lies,” a piano-driven track that feels like Lightbody reflecting on some of his more painful relationship memories: “The love is just pain in reverse,” he sings, with his voice rising up into a higher register.

Similarly, his reverb-soaked vocals on “What If Nothing Breaks?” and “Talking About Hope” fill the spaces create but he songs’ arrangements.

The pace picks up on acoustic rocker “Hold Me in the Fire,” which offers a hint of Springsteenian Americana. The lo-fi aesthetic returns on “Years That Fall,” one of the stronger tracks on the record, with a driving urgency and layered guitar attack. Then, the dramatic “Never Really Tire” is a slow-burning opus (at nearly six minutes) with building drumming that lets to a crescendo.

Snow Patrol ends the album on an upbeat note with the anthem title track.

“I finally figured it out/ It’s not meant to make sense/ It’s just meant to be said in present tense,” Lightbody sings, taking the perspective from past reflection to the current moment in time.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.