Jana Hunter is noticeably pleased when it’s suggested that there’s been a defined arc to her work with Lower Dens. When the Baltimore indie unit surfaced a half-decade ago, it was with a dirge-y and reverb-heavy record—Twin-Hand Movement—best filed under “50 shades of black”.

A 2012 follow-up found the darkness lifting, with Hunter and her bandmates lacing their sophomore outing, Nootropics, with swirling neo-paisley guitars and droning synths. Now comes this year’s Escape From Evil, a surprisingly danceable record that makes the case Lower Dens has finally embraced the idea that there’s nothing wrong with a good time, especially when someone hauls out a stack of John Hughes–approved ’80s vinyl.

It seems like Hunter finally got to the point where she’s happy to look into the light. Reached in a tour van that’s heading toward Cincinnati, she says that line of reasoning isn’t entirely inaccurate.

“That’s pretty insightful, actually,” Hunter says graciously. “Definitely, I indulged really heavily in misguided ways of processing things in the past. If I didn’t have good people in my life, I probably wouldn’t be around anymore. It’s only in the past couple of years that I’ve realized that I have to really actively work on ways of dealing with things that are less immediately pleasurable and are more sustainable in the long term—to put it mildly.”

When it’s suggested that’s a great way of saying a lot without actually confessing anything specific, the singer laughs, then adds: “I’m really avoiding copping to some stuff.”

Except that, with Escape From Evil, she kind of has, both sonically and lyrically. The record gets off to a gorgeously languid start with “Sucker’s Shangri-La”, where Hunter’s dream-hazed vocals are set against slow-burn guitars and creeping synths. The standout “To Die in L.A.” sounds like the fabled Luv-A-Fair circa ’86, while the equally great “Non Grata” is built on the most infectiously rubber-band-like bass line since Shriekback’s “All Lined Up”. Even if you’re the kind of person whose clubbing life is best summed up by the Smiths’ “How Soon Is Now”, Escape From Evil wants to drag you onto the dance floor.

Tellingly, while Hunter’s vocal delivery doesn’t exactly bring to mind happy pills and endless parties, her lyrics definitely seem to hint that she’s making an above-and-beyond effort to work through some issues. The gender-fluid singer, who grew up poor in a large and sometimes dysfunctional family, pulls off the impressive feat of never seeming bummed, even with lines like “I will still be here spinning long after you are gone” in “I Am the Earth”.

When she sings “I will treat you better/Hold on” in “Ondine”, it doesn’t sound like a desperate plea to someone who might have finally had enough, but instead a heartfelt promise. No matter how dark things have been in the past, sometimes the only way to move forward is to convince yourself things could be worse.

“I think it’s kind of the idea that things have to get better,” she explains of her newfound optimism. “I’ve gotta confront things when they feel desperate, or when I’ve really screwed up, or when the world isn’t the place that I thought it was. I have to confront those things, and there has to be a way to work to something beyond those realizations. I can’t just sit there and accept things and dwell on the fear of the unknown or on the idea that things are doomed. That’s all part of my psychology—growing up in a fucked-up family, I can’t handle accepting that I’m screwed.”

Lower Dens plays Electric Owl on Saturday (July 25).