When front man Jim Adkins laments, “I was just a boy like any other,” his voice rings with a vigorous truth that has been sadly missing from American popular music for the past decade.

After a three year hiatus, the Arizona foursome known as Jimmy Eat World have stepped back in front of the spotlight with a brand new album.

“Chase This Light” marks the band’s sixth album, their last being 2004’s “Futures.” The sheer quality of that album allowed the band to transcend from typical emo group, to artists truly worth paying attention to. Songs like “Futures” and “Night Drive” have helped keep this CD near the top of most collector’s piles.

Part of the success of “Futures” is due in part to the fact that the band fired their old producer and brought in Gil Norton, who is best-known for his work with the Foo Fighters. Thankfully, the band brought him back aboard for “Chase This Light.”

The album opens with “Big Casino,” a high-energy number that harkens back to the sound that put Jimmy Eat World on the map. The fast paced nature of the song provides a rousing start to album.

An impressive stride is reached by the third song, “Like She’ll Always Be.” When front man Jim Adkins laments, “I was just a boy like any other,” his voice rings with a vigorous truth that has been sadly missing from American popular music for the past decade.

The entire album is packed with an inherent tempo that is present in even the slowest of ballads. A combination of a strong drummer mixed with Adkins’ mesmerizing voice

The order of the songs on “Chase This Light” is handled with great care, creating a smooth flow that takes the listener by the hand and never lets them go.

Lyrically, the band seems to have taken a step back over the past three years. Where a poetic side appeared in nearly every song off “Futures,” rarely is the listener graced with lyrics of any notable depth. One exception is the song “Feeling Lucky,” which chronicles one man’s descent into a parasitic relationship. Lines like, “Wanna wrath, take a look around the room / It’s a dance, tired steps in brand new shoes,” show glimpses of the wordplay that made “Futures” such a great album.

Near the conclusion of the album, the band wades into unfamiliar waters with “Here it Goes,” a song dripping with a quasi-techno sound. It’s refreshing to hear a band attempt to expand from the formula that gave them fame in the first place.

Although more evolutionary than revolutionary, “Chase This Light” provides one of the most solid listening experiences of 2007.

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