Ah, Jimmy Eat World. You’ve taken your listeners on quite a journey over the past few years, from head-banging defiantly with Bleed American in 2001, to raking us over the coals of emotional struggle with Futures in 2004, to sweeping us up in your dreams of grandeur with Chase This Light in 2007.

While most emo/alternative bands stick to a pretty strict emotional diet of angst, the tonal differences between past albums prove these four guys’ ability to display a veritable range of feeling. Replete with JEW’s signature ambient sound and continuum of poignant colors, the laid-back Invented falls in line with their past work and fulfills every expectation.

One of lead singer Jim Adkins’ most notable strengths is his ability to directly convey the turmoil and fervor in his heart vocally. In this respect, “Littlething” is a tender, fiery and impassioned power play. A layer of strings adds fervor as he trembles out his love for a faceless girl, asking her to “be with me tonight.” In baring open the soft spot in his heart for the “little things” in life, Adkins does what he does best – strikes right at the heart of listeners’ own emotional cores.

By comparison, the slow-moving “Stop” is a bland wash of sentimental sound. Dejected, pleading vocalizations and a stagnant beat cause the ear to wander away in search of more interesting material. There is a fine line between slow music that is moving and slow music that is boring, and one of JEW’s habitual downfalls is straying into the second category.

The songs “Evidence” and “Invented” also pay homage to this epidemic. On the other end of the energy spectrum, “My Best Theory” incorporates a catchy riff, galloping guitars, and Zach Lind’s balls-to-the-wall drumming. Adkins shakes off his heartfelt whispers and charges up that distinctively clear, slightly reedy voice to regale us with thoughts of ideological uncertainty and having to choose sides.

As the second track on the album, it provides a much-needed boost from the cobbled-together opener “Heart Is Hard to Find.” Though the friendly hand-clapping in this tune sets the stage for a happy-go-lucky melody, the tune that actually appears is unsettling, empty-sounding. The vocal leaps Adkins experiments with towards the end are probably meant to sound grandiose, but end up falling flat, resulting in an uneasy vibe overall.

Towards the middle of the album, “Invented” decides to wax philosophical. The lyrics of “Movielike,” present an interesting double meaning by asserting “you’ve seen the best already.” On one level, they speak to frustration at Hollywood’s seeming inability to put out an original movie. On a deeper level, they are a painful reminder of the pressing discontent that coincides with the discovery of mediocrity in our own lives.

Besides “Littlething” and “My Best Theory,” “Cut” (no emo jokes, please) shines through as one of the strongest tracks on the album, and serves as an oasis of sound in an otherwise stagnant latter half. Bass drum hits measure out the brilliance of an epic background choir as Adkins belts it about love and fame.

If anything proves these guys’ mastery of the rock ballad, it’s this song. Paradoxically, Invented does not break new ground or redefine the band’s sound, but rather molds itself to the picture one would expect from a 2010 Jimmy Eat World album. Though it lacks any artistic twists or energizing rock-out moments, it does get the job done. And in the end, that’s all you can really ask of an invention.

3.5 out of 5 stars.