It’s always fascinating meeting up with old friends years later. If you haven’t interacted much in the interim, it’s often the case that your image of who they are and what they’re like remains frozen, preserved in the afterimage of your last conversation. But with the passage of time comes change; that’s inevitable. So, when you meet up again, how will they be different? And what about them won’t have changed, and will offer a happy reminder of why you became friends in the first place?

It can be like that with bands, too.

Years pass and suddenly there’s a new album and it’s a combination of easy familiarity and curiosity about what may be different, and why, and how you feel about that. The analogy feels especially on point when talking about a band like Semisonic, which has often assumed the persona of a good-natured buddy cajoling you into a night out and then philosophizing between guitar solos on the drive. They’re the epitome of the approachable thinking-man’s rock band.

As if to underscore the warm vibes they emanate, Semisonic never did break up; after MCA dropped them in 2001, they just drifted along, on hiatus except when they weren't. There were reunion shows every few years and a live album, even as each member of the Minneapolis trio of friends explored new paths. Singer-songwriter-guitarist Dan Wilson issued a couple of well-received solo albums and became an in-demand songwriting partner, winning multiple Grammys for his co-writes with the likes of The Chicks, Adele, Chris Stapleton and Taylor Swift. Bassist and harmony vocalist John Munson formed at least three new bands: The Flops, The New Standards, and Munson-Hicks Party Supplies. And drummer Jacob Slichter authored one of the finest rock memoirs ever (So You Wanna Be A Rock & Roll Star) and launched a new career teaching writing at Sarah Lawrence College.

Still, Professor Slichter and friends never fell out and kept tinkering with various recordings all through the twenty-teens, without releasing anything. Finally, it happened: song machine Wilson started working on some new tunes that “sounded like Semisonic songs,” and they were off to the races. In 2020 the band released an EP called You’re Not Alone whose opening title track reminded us of all the reasons we’d been missing them: a big, tasty riff over a pumping rhythm section, in support of an uplifting—and in this case also timely—message. The other four tracks confirmed that the band had located its natural groove once again; they continued writing and recording and then joined Barenaked Ladies’ ’90s summer package tour for their first sustained touring in two decades.

The three singles the group released over this spring and summer now comprise the first act of Semisonic’s first album in 22 years, Little Bit Of Sun. The kickoff title track is an almost-literal sunburst of warm acoustic riffing and pulsing rhythm, with Wilson picking up where “You’re Not Alone” left off, cheerleading for the ability of community and connection to counteract the darkness in the world. It’s the emerging-from-the-pandemic anthem our subconscious has been craving.

Having led on a bright but serious note, the group turns up the fun for ebullient rocker “The Rope,” littered with singalong choruses and breaks, golden harmony vocals (courtesy of Wilson’s co-writer Amy Allen), and Munson and Slichter’s driving backbeat. “Grow Your Own” arrives next, a celebratory tune that draws a straight line from the band’s initial spark to the fire they’ve just relit (“And now I listen to that rock and roll music / Remember how I felt before / Whoah whoah I never believed it was dead and gone / Whoah whoah I, only a dream but the dream is strong”).

From there you get pretty much the dynamic range that any fan of the band has been jonesing for: sweet, sinuous ballads that get under your skin (“Don’t Fade Away,” “All The Time,” and the thrumming “Only Empathy,” co-written by Wilson and Lori McKenna); dark, pungent rockers (“Out Of The Dirt,” another Wilson-McKenna co-write featuring a laser-sharp guitar solo from serial guest Jason Isbell); snarky laments (“It Wasn’t Like We Hoped It Would Be,” a bouncy, pointed lesson in appreciating what you have); and wide-eyed sincerity (“So Amazed,” a simple, driving pop-rock tune celebrating gratitude).

One of the great things about Semisonic has always been that, while the band has primarily been a vehicle for Wilson’s terrific songs, Munson and Slichter are no slouches in that department, and their contributions have often been highlights. It’s true again here; Slichter’s “Keep Me In Motion”—again featuring Isbell—is a pumping, thrumming rocker whose rhythm track alone is worth the price of admission; it’s a clinic in pushing the beat, breaking it down, and bringing it back with a dynamic fill, all in service of a kinetic lyric that Wilson sings beautifully. Later on, Munson’s “If You Say So” delivers a warm, cheeky blast of nostalgia, a song about how, even if we remember the details differently, we share the same emotional sense-memory of those moments that shaped us.

Little Bit Of Sun closes with the dreamy, steady-building, and ultimately expansive “Beautiful Sky,” which finds Wilson co-writing with My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, who also guests on guitar. It’s yet another track featuring Sara Mulford, who contributes background vocals and keyboards to multiple tracks here, and it bookends the opening title track smartly with another tune about the primal joy of existence:

It’s a beautiful sky
At times I thought it would fall
Just to be here alive
Just to let that be all
Let’s make this one last

The song builds and builds and then finishes with a lyrical kicker that’s so wise and deep and spare and powerful that I’m not even thinking about sharing it here: just go listen.

The one-sheet sent over by the group’s team describes the new album as “a deeply moving reflection on growth, gratitude, and commitment in the face of change and uncertainty” and I can’t say it any better than that. A mature statement that reflects both the times we’re in and the time that’s passed, Little Bit Of Sun is also a triumphant return by a band we’re still in the process of understanding how much we missed. Welcome back, guys.

Rating: A-

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