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Dawson and his wife Diane Christiansen are the heart of the band, and they get essential help from guitarist Mark Balletto, bassist Mike Bradburn and drummer Matt Thobe. The players have been together for nearly 20 years now, and while Dolly Varden hasn’t achieved the widespread fame that some predicted it would in the 1990s, it has built a devoted following with a series of smart, melodic albums.

On this latest one, many of the songs contemplate the passage of time. The title track, for instance, plays with the notion of life as both a short sprint and a long haul: “Back in 1965 you were banging a beehive / Poking trouble in the eye, you’re lucky to be alive / In time to realize it’s only for a while”. In the touching ballad “Mayfly”, the narrator recounts dreams in which he’s at various stages of life, from young adulthood to gray-haired old age. After each dream he realizes “We are lucky, and the story is not over yet”. And the standout track “Saskatchewan to Chicago” — I think it’s my favorite on the album — charts a family’s history over multiple generations.

The lyrics are so accessible and the images so vivid that they resemble short fiction, tales that glow in the mind long after you listen to the album. It helps that they come accompanied by a beautifully rendered blend of folk, country and rock. The band decorates the basic guitar-bass-drums spines of the songs with rustic touches such as pedal steel, organ and strings. Dawson and Christiansen both provide vocals (with backing from the rest of the band), and the whole mix is as warm and soothing as a hot toddy on a freezing cold night.

For a While contains some up-tempo rockers, but on the whole this is a contemplative album, one to get lost in. My advice to someone listening to it for the first time: The initial spin might not blow you away, but give it some time. And don’t be surprised if sometime later, you find yourself thinking about strange small-town twins whose mother always reeks of alcohol.