For anyone unfamiliar with Ben Folds, it might be easy to jump to the conclusion that he has silently slipped away from the music business. After all, it has been nearly four years since the release of his last studio album, Rockin’ the Suburbs.

In reality, Folds has hardly taken a moments rest and, at 38, is in the midst of one of the most rigorous schedules a professional musician can have. Since the 1999 Suburbs release, Folds has gone on several tours playing more than 100 shows, released and actively promoted a live album, Ben Folds Live, formed a side-collaboration project with Ben Kweller and Ben Lee (satirically dubbed “The Bens”), recorded a trilogy of limited-release EPs — with mostly original content — and produced and co-wrote William Shatner’s critically acclaimed album Has Been.

Tomorrow marks the release of his new album, Songs for Silverman.

Silverman is a change of pace from past Folds albums. The songs don’t have the same catchy pop characteristics that defined Suburbs. Instead, Folds relies on content to guide the music, and the result is an album with much more substance than he has ever created before. The songs were written in a very deliberate and unhurried manner, giving them an often-relaxed air with naturally progressing melodies and deeply reflective lyrics.

The result is a somewhat bittersweet first impression that develops to a greater appreciation on each subsequent listen.

The opening track, “Bastard,” takes an indirect political stance about young conservatives to the accompaniment of sharp piano playing and moving background vocals. Folds sings about young people who already act like white-collar adults and don’t have any intentions to change the world. “Kids today gettin’ old too fast / they can’t wait to grow up so they can get some ass / They get nostalgic about the last ten years / before the last ten years have passed.”

The strongest emotional point of Silverman is a tribute, “Late,” dedicated to the musician Elliott Smith, who died in 2003. The song encapsulates what it is to be a true fan of someone’s music, but is from the unique perspective of another in the business. Folds sings, “Elliott, man, you played a fine guitar / And some dirty basketball,” in reference to a pick-up game they played, in which Smith struck Folds as particularly aggressive.

The album has its weak points. Folds has always shown an often-effective preference of wrapping up albums with slow songs that are catchy (“Lullaby”) or touching (“The Luckiest” and “Evaporated”), but Silverman‘s “Prison Food” is neither. Despite making an ineffective closing song that is redundant at times, it still has its upside due to unique instrumentals and beautiful melodies.

A key difference of Silverman from Suburbs is that Folds took a minimalist approach with instruments. Most of the songs only use bass and drums, while a few add guitar or strings.

Songs for Silverman reveals the clear next step in the continuing evolution of Ben Folds’ career. The new album reflects a convergence of several different styles Folds has developed from different eras his career has seen.

While leading Ben Folds Five throughout the ’90s, his former band’s three studio albums followed a progression of three distinct styles. Their debut self-titled album echoed with barrelhouse piano and a theme of nerdy piano rock that appealed to fans of the underground alt-rock scene of the time. The band evolved by the time they released their sophomore album in 1997, Whatever & Ever Amen, which had the pop favorites “Song for the Dumped” and “Brick,” leading the album to chart-topping success. Containing orchestral melancholy with brief moments of comic relief, BFF’s final album, The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, showed maturity the band had only hinted at previously.

Many reviews have already cited Songs for Silverman as an example of Ben Folds reaching a point in his career in which he has finally grown up. But anyone who has seen his frequent antics during a live show in the last few years, or heard his recent cover of Dr. Dre’s “Bitches Ain’t Shit” available on iTunes, knows he still has all the same ability to rock. The difference is he has reached a point in his career where he has something new to express. He finally has a firm enough footing on his musical career that he can write more than just pop.

Folds says after the release of Silverman and an upcoming concert tour of Europe he plans to take a break and spend some time with his family. But judging from the last four years, fans may not have to wait long before they see more tour dates or an additional project or two.

Grade: A