The lyrics don’t mention minivans, training wheels, or parent-teacher meetings, but Daniel Wesley’s new album I Am Your Man is nonetheless a stellar example of dad rock—especially when you consider the story behind one of its stronger tracks, “Speed Bump”.

The tune belies its strum-along feel with lyrics that warn of a “speed bump coming up ahead”, and despite its irresistible, reggae-tinted chorus, it’s a rare serious moment on a record that is notably good-humoured and warm. But “Speed Bump” wasn’t inspired by a shadow passing over Wesley’s otherwise charmed life, as the singer-guitarist reports from his temporary digs in Vancouver. (And, no, he’s not homeless, just waiting to take possession of the three-storey townhouse he and his wife have recently bought in sunny South Surrey.)

“That one was written in Hawaii, one of the happiest places in the world,” Wesley explains. “My cousin lives on Maui, so we were there for a month, hanging out with him. Every morning, I’d wake up really early and take my son for a walk in his stroller. We were staying up in the mountains, looking over the beach, and there were speed bumps up there to keep the traffic slow, obviously. So one morning I was pushing the stroller, and I was just kinda humming along, and then I started singing this to him. And Finn really liked it, so I was like, ‘This is cool! He’s smiling, and he’s kind of enjoying it.’

“I rushed back and told my wife, ‘I need five minutes with the guitar,’ ” he continues, laughing. “Once I had the ‘speed bump coming up ahead’ part, I thought it would be neat to make it more of a reflective thing—and it seems like it worked, although it definitely sticks out on the album.”

Fatherhood had an even larger impact on the overall sound of I Am Your Man: Wesley’s seventh full-length is a fairly restrained affair, unlike its amped-up predecessor, Ocean Wide.

“I’ve always played all types of music, and through my growing up and my 20s, it seemed like every couple of years there was something else I was interested in,” the 33-year-old performer stresses. “When I started music it was punk rock, and then it went to rock, and then I went to a more singer-songwriter kind of thing, and then I started playing summertime music.

“People started calling it reggae, even though it’s really not reggae if you’re into reggae. People who are reggae fans would be, like, ‘That’s not reggae.’ I kind of got labelled that, but all the records have encompassed all those different sounds. With the last couple, I guess I felt like… Well, sometimes you play the acoustic guitar for so long that you just want to plug in and crank up the amps! Whereas with this one, you know, having a son and living in a two-bedroom apartment, it was more like finding myself with an acoustic guitar in my hand, and the songs kinda just catered to that.”

Although Wesley hasn’t yet determined the game plan for his next record—he’s had a few other things on his mind, including his house purchase and the impending arrival of a second child—there’s a good chance that it will rock a little harder than I Am Your Man. For one thing, his new home will allow him to get back to the writing process that produced his earlier, louder material.

“It’s three times as big as the apartment that we owned for the last four years, and I’m pretty stoked about that,” he says. “Before Finn came along, his room was my music room, so I haven’t had one for a while. With this last album, I don’t know how it all worked out, because I didn’t have a place to go play or anything like that. So I’m excited to have my, ah… Not a man-cave, but just a place where I can go and create.”

Some might find all of this happiness daunting, but Wesley says he’s not one of those artists who have to generate chaos in their life before they can write.

“Everyone’s different, right?” he says. “We all accept things differently, and we all do things differently. Maybe when I was younger I needed that, but nowadays I find the happier I am the more I write—and I’ve been really happy for a long time now. I’m really lucky to be doing this music as a job, and to have a loving wife, and to be starting a family. Life is great, you know—and I find that when I’m happy, things always fall in the right place.”

Daniel Wesley plays the Commodore Ballroom on Saturday (June 6).