“Write about love, it could be in any tense, but it must make sense.”

These thoughtful, instructive lyrics make one picture Belle and Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch at the front of a classroom, the words “Indie Rock Songwriting 101” decorating the blackboard over his head, while a room full of astute, aspiring songsters take notes with a dedicated ferocity.

The band’s new release, “Write About Love,” certainly follows course. It isn’t just straightforward love songs, but rather humorous tales of love lost, wistful longings of hypothetical futures and honest looks at the present.

It has been 14 years since Murdoch and company released their debut album, “Tiger Milk.” Originally, a mere 1,000 copies were produced. It took three years of these demos floating around the Scottish music scene for someone to realize that they had something special. Jeepster Records subsequently re-released the album in 1999, and suddenly the little Glasgow open-mic band was getting four-star reviews from Rolling Stone magazine.

By the time 2006’s commercial breakthrough “The Life Pursuit” was released, Belle and Sebastian had the buzz of a beehive, straddling the line between indie darlings and household names.

The band’s profile has stayed fairly high since, thanks to the Internet, featured tracks in the film “Juno,” and a shout out in “500 Days of Summer.” Anyone remember Summer’s yearbook quote?

However, aside from a few fleeting side projects and the odd festival date, it’s been radio silence since 2006.

So, four years in the making, “Write About Love” has become the band’s welcome return to the spotlight.

Much of “Write About Love” still maintains the twee pop sound the band has built its reputation on, though with increasing forays into the northern soul and brit-pop genres. “Sunday’s Pretty Icons,” for instance, opens with a harmonizing subtlety that so many indie bands are trying to achieve today, though often with minute success. But Belle and Sebastian are old pros at this point, and they master the intro perfectly before erupting into a charming, floating chorus of male-female harmonies. There is a kind of passion and emotional depth to the song that truly resonates.

Yet some songs still maintain the signature cheeky subtlety the band showcased on albums like “The Boy with the Arab Strap.” As Murdoch croons about the disintegration of a relationship on the album’s third track, he delivers us an incredibly honest, heartfelt tale of love and loss before closing with a final, soulful jab—”You calculating bimbo, I wish you’d let the past go.”

The album also features some successful collaborations, with dreamy pianist Norah Jones dueting on the somewhat uncharacteristic, though nevertheless delightfully beautiful “Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John.” Actress Carey Mulligan also shows some surprising vocal talent on the album’s northern-soul-infused title track.

Like “The Life Pursuit,” the production value on “Write About Love” is incredibly slick, yet the lyrical sensibilities take you back to the Belle and Sebastian of yesteryear. It’s an album that truly gets better with every listen.