Tom Odell, “Best Day of My Life.”

For his fifth album, British singer-songwriter Tom Odell wanted to strip down his music to its most basic foundation. Inspired by a Rick Rubin quote of putting rules on oneself, Odell limited his writing to only his voice and a piano. Gone are the hooks and pop instrumentation of songs like “Another Love,” leaving just a minimalist portrait of a songwriter and his words. Best Day of My Life is a personal self-portrait.

True to the album’s aims, each track has a sparse arrangement with little other than harmonies or some slight atmospheric flourishes. The lyrics are poignant, crossing hope and sadness and the inflection point of the two. Case in point, the title track, which opens the album, tackles the rollercoaster of life’s experiences, and the ricochet from the peaks to the valleys.

“Yesterday all I wanted to do was die/ Right now I’m happy to be alive,” Odell sings.

That sentiment continues on “Sad Anymore,” an ode to the struggle to overcome depression and to find light in the dark. The dour piano is complemented by a dramatic choir of backing vocals. The album succeeds in its pacing, most songs clocking in right around two and a half minutes, with a handful of piano interludes— “Sunrise,” “Librium” and “Sunset”—as transitions.

“Just Another Thing We Don’t Talk About” continues the thread of anxiety and stress, covering the Odell’s tendency to suppress his darkest feelings.

“It’s not what you did/ It’s not what you said/ It’s the silence you chose instead,” Odell sings on the simple yet memorable lyric.

“The Blood We Bleed” offers once of the most tender and intricate vocals on the album, the timbre of each word Odell utters audible in his most vulnerable delivery. The album’s subject matter is unquestionably weighty, and this record isn’t one to blast on a car trip, but it does serve as a well-crafted look into Odell’s psyche.

He takes aim at his haters on “Giving a Fuk,” which strips things down even further—goodbye reverb! Odell sings about how detractors used to haunt him, but he’s since learned to turn them aside. Meanwhile, “Flying :))” is a particularly down track, despite the emoji in the title. This one’s about the extended depths of depression and Tom Odell has experienced.

It’s difficult to classify any song here as “energetic,” but “Enemy” comes closest with a strong and mighty vocal that feels alive despite Odell’s lamenting his own anxieties. While still squarely in the range of a piano ballad, the track flips off the quiet nuance of the other tracks.

The downward spiral continues on “Monday” as the singer trudges forward through the weight of his own thoughts, unable to break through from the pressing weight. “Every single day feels like a Monday,” he sings.

For all of the darkness and depression, the album does end on a note of positivity on the uplifting and hopeful notes of “Smiling All the Way Back Home.” This restful breath is a welcome conclusion to an otherwise difficult journey.

Odell’s vocal and songwriting talents are immense on Best Day of My Life, but there’s no way around this being such an extremely sad and forlorn record.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.