Toronto-based rock ’n’ roll five-piece July Talk has been making some changes. Propelled into the spotlight after its self-titled debut record was snapped up for redistribution by Universal Music in 2013, the band swiftly found fame by building a brand around polar opposites. Fronted by Peter Dreimanis and Leah Fay—two individuals with radically contrasting voices—July Talk created a strict black-and-white aesthetic in its music videos, and drew praise for contrasting light and darkness in its lyrics and music.

The group’s newly released sophomore album, Touch, transformed that dichotomy. Although July Talk’s first Juno-winning album focused on presenting two conflicting opinions in duet-style discussions, its latest offering trades those confrontational conversations for more harmonious lyrics.

“When we first launched the band, it was still really exciting to us to have these back-and-forths in our songs,” Dreimanis tells the Straight on the line from an Irish tour stop. “It’s been great that we’ve chosen to step away from that and speak together on the second record—not literally in unison, but in terms of what we’re writing. Our lyrics show the characters agreeing more, which is closer to the dynamic that Leah and I have in real life.”

“I think that argument was a tool that we used a lot in our music when we were first starting out,” Fay adds, “because it was a way to highlight that we don’t have a lead singer and a backup vocalist in our band. There are two main vocalists, and those voices both have equal weight. Now I think we’ve made that point, and it’s important to continue to grow.”

Touch is a varied record. Tracks like the distortion-drenched “Johnny + Mary” contrast with songs like “Lola + Joseph”, a vocal-driven piece that rubs Dreimanis’s sandpapery, Tom Waits–esque voice against Fay’s sweet melodies. Mastering the smallest details, July Talk’s hard-hitting collection of 10 individual stories is unexpectedly complex.

“Instead of everything being black-and-white,” Dreimanis says, “the new record has started filling in the grey. This album is about having one idea, plus another idea—and showing something as the sum of two parts. Sometimes it can be oil and water, and sometimes it can be seamlessly blended together.

“Touch is the meeting of two things,” he continues. “They’re not always opposing forces—sometimes they’re travelling in parallel lines, and they need each other to continue to travel. That’s why we chose it as the name of our album. We finally learned that music doesn’t have to be up versus down. It could be up and down, and we can explore what it means to look at those things a little differently.”

July Talk’s new approach has already won over new fans. Selling out venues on both sides of the Atlantic, the group is currently on tour in support of Catfish and the Bottlemen, playing to up to 12,000 people every night. Fresh off the stage of the U.K.’s fabled Wembley Arena, the group are keen to reflect on the experience.

“It was something else, man,” Dreimanis recalls. “Our van was stuck behind us in traffic, so I got there before we started loading our gear in. I remember just walking through the stands, and feeling so amazed. You pass through a lot of famous venues as a touring musician, but Wembley is like a shrine in the U.K. Everybody who is anybody has destroyed that place.”

“We’ll never forget that set,” Fay says. “We feel very lucky that our music has gotten so much appreciation. It makes us feel like the new record must be doing something right.”

July Talk plays the Commodore Ballroom on Wednesday and Friday (November 23 and 25).