The Fiery Furnaces can be accused of many things, including being maddeningly self-indulgent, too clever for mass consumption, and—as anyone who’s, um, “experienced” Rehearsing My Choir will agree—occasionally insane. One thing they most certainly are not is concise, with their hyper-complex songs as challenging lyrically as they are musically.

One might assume that this has made life miserable for singer Eleanor Friedberger, who, in a typical song, ends up spitting out more words than an average chapter of War and Peace. Reached at a Northampton, Massachusetts, tour stop, however, the fabulously coiffed frontwoman reveals that keeping the lyrics straight isn’t nearly as difficult as it might seem.

“I do occasionally blow a line,” Friedberger says, and then, after a pause, adds with a laugh: “But although I’m not great at too many things, I’m good at remembering lyrics. So luckily I’m doing the right thing. And I’m really enjoying singing more than I ever have. I think that’s because I’m getting better, I hope. Four years ago, if someone asked me, ”˜Do you feel like you know what you’re doing?’, I don’t know what my answer would have been.”

It doesn’t hurt that, seven studio albums into a career that’s been as far away as you can get from conventional, the Fiery Furnaces have finally returned to the formula that first got them buzzed about earlier this decade. As practically every enthusiastic review of their new album I’m Going Away has noted, Friedberger and her multi-instrumentalist brother and bandmate, Matthew, have, for the first time since their 2004 sophomore effort Blueberry Boat, resisted the urge to weigh down every song with nonstop chord changes and ADHD-afflicted arrangements. If you’ve been waiting for them to re-create the streamlined indie-pop majesty of their 2003 debut, Gallowsbird’s Bark, the wait is over.

“Matt had just gotten married last year and was moving around a lot,” Friedberger explains. “He spent a few weeks at my house in New York, so we said, ”˜We’re going to try to sit down and write some songs in a really short amount of time, doing them as spontaneously and natural as possible.’ And I think it worked out great—we’ve got a record with simple arrangements with a feel sort of like [Bob Dylan’s] The Basement Tapes, which is one of our favourite records.”

Simple doesn’t mean unadventurous, with the Fiery Furnaces giving “I’m Going Away” a thrilling saloon-jazz undertow and salting “Staring at the Steeple” with carnival organs and depth-charge bass bombs. Mostly, though, the beauty of I’m Going Away is in its uncluttered hooks, whether it’s the golden-morning MOR of “Drive to Dallas” or the buoyant piano pop of “Even in the Rain”.

The result is not only one of the best records of the year, but also one that has been a welcome surprise for fans who’ve stuck with the Furnaces through often-frustrating opuses like Bitter Tea and Widow City.

“People seem to know the new songs and like them,” Friedberger says simply.

Still, she eventually admits that, even today, being in the Fiery Furnaces does have its challenges.

“Because we’ve done seven albums, it’s really hard to know what to play every night,” she says. “I mean, we could easily play for three hours.”

The Fiery Furnaces play the Red Room on Tuesday (November 17).