London-based singer-songwriter Beabadoobee returned on Sept. 18, charging her fourth studio album, “Pylon,” with high-voltage emotionality.

Written and recorded while on tour for her previous album, “This Is How Tomorrow Moves,” “Pylon” gets its name from the electrical towers that lined the roads Beatrice Laus spent countless hours driving down.

The presence of pylons can be found throughout the album, referring to their many purposes as supporting, connecting and guiding structures. In an interview with Elle UK, she shared that “Pylon” is her “most emotional record” yet, evident both lyrically and musically.

Across 14 tracks, Laus discusses themes of homesickness, growing up and the instability of long-distance relationships caused by extensive hours on the road. Three singles were released to support the album’s rollout, each an excellent choice as an introduction to the musical and lyrical themes present throughout Pylon.

“Sun Has Set” works perfectly as a lead single, immediately establishing the defining heavier rock elements of the album. With a gritty opening guitar riff, angsty vocals and a punchy chorus, “Sun Has Set” quickly flips the switch on what listeners may have expected from past hits like “Beaches” or “Glue Song.” The song is strategically placed after the much calmer opening title track to make this thematic shift even more explosive.

While “Sun Has Set” merely introduces a new sound, the second single “Switchblade” dives headfirst into the grunge theme consistent throughout the album. The swaying melody and droning guitar pedal draw clear inspiration from ’90s alt-rock and grunge hits, like Nirvana’s “Something In The Way.” Here, Laus sings with even more angst and anger about vulnerability and mental self-defense.

She returns to a more conventional sound for the album’s third and final single, “Memories,” evoking a carefree, end-of-summer warmth. However, Laus never lets you linger in this lighter sound for too long, as heard throughout most of the album’s other tracks. As the album’s name suggests, the more dissonant, harsh grunge sounds function like the towering roadside structures, acting as a reference point to return to when the musical direction starts to shift.

“Pylon” features notable collaborators who, despite not having large standout verses, help hold the various musical themes of the album together. Brendan Yates of Turnstile, Chino Moreno of Deftones and Hayley Williams of Paramore provide backing vocals on “Powerlines,” “Satellite” and “Nothing To Prove,” respectively. Influences from all three bands can be heard across “Pylon,” but Williams — who Laus called “the blueprint” in an interview with Zane Lowe — is by far the most prevalent. Besides “Nothing To Prove,” songs like “It’s Alright” and “Radio” feel like reinterpretations of Paramore hits with a classic Beabadoobee approach.

At some points, “Pylon” can feel redundant, sonically. Particularly, the songs that make up the middle of the album tend to blend into each other, lacking distinct, attention-grabbing elements. Lyrically, the album also feels conflicting, especially on first listen.

Within the first three tracks alone, Laus moves from longing for connection “At least we’re connected / Like a pylon on an open road,” to completely shutting out a relationship, “Fuck that, you can never run back to me now / The sun has set,” to the middle ground of feeling distant yet attached, “Feeling estranged / But something keeps you coming back to me.”

By the end of the album, however, these conflicting themes found throughout “Pylon” resolve in a rewarding way. On the final track, “Satellite,” Laus describes herself as one of these orbiting bodies. Like a planet orbiting the sun, the demanding nature of touring and being on the road forces her to constantly circle something she cannot touch. She is tethered to her home and the ones she loves, but can never stay for too long.

While “Pylon” might not necessarily be groundbreaking, Laus turned her older sound into energy in a way that works exceptionally well. By exploring more mature themes through a grittier, explosive grunge-inspired musical lens, Beabadoobee highlights her evolution as an artist, both sonically and lyrically.