The discography of Spiritualized is like a roller coaster ride between ecstatic, exalted highs and comedowns to bleaker, darker lows than most of us know in real life. Which, given Jason Pierce’s penchant for drugs and his brush with death via double pneumonia in 2005, makes sense.

At first listen, the new album “Sweet Heart Sweet Light” seems to embody more of the light side of Spiritualized, which seems appropriate for an optimistically titled record with a springtime release. However, as NPR points out, lyrically the album still does fixate on mortality, with the first lines of “Little Girl” starting out, “Sometimes I wish that I was dead, cuz only the living can feel pain,” a gloomy juxtaposition to an upbeat tune.

The new record is out April 17, but you can stream it in full at NPR now.