Fans of Winnipeg’s most literate rock four-piece, The Weakerthans, seem to divide into two camps: those who prefer the emotional catharsis of 2000’s Left and Leaving and those who favour the conceptual headiness of 2003’s Reconstruction Site. Both of these groups have had to wait over four years for this slightly ironically titled followup. Four years is awfully long in pop music years, but put aside the anticipation and expectations, put on a pair of fresh ears and Reunion Tour does not disappoint. One thing is indisputably confirmed; nobody offers up emotional intelligence quite like songwriter John K. Samson and crew.

The album presents 11 fully fleshed vignettes, like short stories or mini movies. Opener “Civil Twilight” takes the perspective of a bus driver at dusk in December coping with the traffic and weather while obsessing over his ex: “Hey, every other hour I pass the place where you told me you had to go.” Presented mostly in first person, these short stories add up to a satisfying anthology. From an old-timer NHL goalkeeper in “Elegy for Gump Worsley” (featuring ambient sound, poetry and banjo) to an unrepentant sasquatch believer in “Bigfoot!” (with horns) and a genetic freak in “Hymn of the Medical Oddity,” all are united by their melancholy and humanity. Virtute the cat, probably the most consistently misspelled feline in rock criticism history, returns to explain her departure. Producer Ian Blurton returns to help coax the songs into their spit-and-polished final form. From a production perspective, everything sounds absolutely fantastic.

Once again, Samson’s dense, intelligent, detail-driven lyrics and Stephen Carroll’s understated, expressive, almost painterly guitar add up to an equation of pathos previously unheard in rock music. Drummer and percussionist Jason Tait is as solid and versatile as ever, and new bassist Greg Smith commands the bottom end with the confidence of a founding member. There are more keyboards, more Canadiana references and plenty to compel repeated listening. While much of the album is unmistakably patent Weakerthans, at least a couple songs, especially the title track, sound like nothing in their back catalogue. Reunion Tour may not pry any diehard fans out of their respective entrenchments, but it should, if there’s any justice at all in the music world, earn them a whole new army of devotees. Not a lot of bands can make this grown man cry, but these guys certainly can, and thank God for that.