Medium Build’s Nick Carpenter never planned for a career as a singer-songwriter to take him to great heights. But when it did — an ascent made possible on the merits of his razor-sharp and fearlessly reflective tunes, electrifying performances, and acerbic, hilarious wit — he certainly wasn’t prepared to end up so close to the edge.

Throughout King of Having Fun, the kitchen sink of Medium Build’s abilities and Carpenter’s chameleon-like skill to succeed in multiple genres is on full display. “Do Something Productive” sets an early tone of anthemic power-pop mixed with modern country sentimentalism, while “Cone Off” apes the latter genre’s sonics while celebrating the singer’s untethered freedom. The title track is a hero’s journey from darkness to light, with nostalgic revelry for simpler times sung through a George-Strait-meets-Andy-Shauf sincerity, and the achingly simple acoustic ditty “Feed the Boys” depicts a young Carpenter in the car with his mom as they enjoy a treat on their way home. “Bird Woman”’s wall of guitars and obscure lyrics (“They’re dark,” Carpenter, who identifies as queer, says: “I'm watching a woman do Tai Chi while talking about a guy not leaving his wife for me”) hearken to Carpenter’s indie-est idols, with offerings made to Pedro the Lion, Alvvays, and Dinosaur Jr, and “Home Depot” is a ’90s pop-country radio jam that tells the story of Steve, a guy who is simply incapable of being emotional without his tools. Carpenter calls “Armor” the heart of the record, with its three verses of headspinning neuroses in the arena-busting style of Harry Styles, Sam Fender, and U2. The album closes with the gorgeous “Thank You Cook” like an end credits number in a film, with brushes melting over an early-Coldplay-esque tone and whisper-soft vocals. A love song to his partner, the musician Annika Bennett (who co-wrote throughout the record and sings background vocals on several songs), the track represents a new gear for Medium Build, one that suggests that all the lows in Carpenter’s past life have served the purpose of helping him to appreciate the highs to come.

“A lot of my songs come from a sense of discomfort that I then have to frame in criticism,” he says. “I'm great at taking something down or writing about tension in a relationship; I've never been good at writing about how nice a relationship can be. So this record feels like the first time I was able to say, in an artistic way that didn't feel cloying, Thank you for loving me. Obviously, I had to lose it to be able to put it into words. That's really hard to do when you’re in it, but that time and space helps you see. And I now realize I have the power to give myself all the things I need. So I'm back, I'm doing it, and I love it. This album has a genuine love song for my partner and a genuine love song for my mom; there aren’t many knocking someone off their high horse. I guess it's a sign of my growth. It's maybe the best and most important thing I've ever made. I got all my favorite people in a room and we had fun. It’s a celebration of life.”

And, as he sings on the album’s final, powerful moment — When the love I learn from you / Becomes the love I give myself… I love myself, I am home / I don’t need anything — we, too, can take heart, knowing that Nick Carpenter is planted firmly on solid ground, at last.