The indie slow-jam has been Belle & Sebastian territory for the last 15 years now. Stuart Murdoch and his legion of fidgety, cross-legged, English majoring followers have given us some of prettiest (and geekiest) bespectacled indie pop of all time. He’s got a beautiful breathy voice, and it’s proven to be paired with placid twee, twangy country, and, most recently (on 2006’s The Life Pursuit), fluffy, white-collar R&B.

So on Belle & Sebastian Write About Love, their first record in four years, the band has carried over both The Life Pursuit’s producer Tony Hoffer and that same soulful dreaminess that defined his mix. Naturally, a lot of the songs have the same googly-eyed plastic sheen that Life Pursuit has become known for, but the pace has been slowed a bit; Stuart himself doesn’t show up until a solid three minutes into the record’s opener “I Didn’t See it Coming,” a subdued, downhearted ballad that lets Sarah Martin’s piping falsetto take lead, detachedly waxing on a doomed long-distance relationship.

In fact, most of Write About Love has a certain de-emphasis on Murdoch’s iconic croon — the album’s best song the slow, oven-baked “Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John” is delivered by an incredibly focused Norah Jones, with Stuart adding some gorgeous undertone harmonies that couple with her one-in-a-million rasp like few other voices could. Write About Love is more about Belle & Sebastian as a band rather than Murdoch’s songwriting — he still takes lead on most of the album, but he’s not the central element here. Longtime guitarist Stevie Jackson even gets a song all to himself, the reverb-drenched Specter-throwback “I’m Not Living in The Real World,” which sounds completely untouched by Stuart’s influence, unlike the last song he penned, “To Be Myself Completely.” “Real World” breaks through the Belle & Sebastian’s insular shell and will certainly raise some longtime fan’s eyebrows. Murdoch has a trained sense of when he’s needed, and only enters the mix when the song need’s his distinct texture.

But what it really comes down to is that Belle & Sebastian Write About Love sounds a lot like Belle & Sebastian. All quirky design choices, production tricks, songwriting credits, and guest spots aside, you know what you’re getting into with this one — and that’s by no means a bad thing. It’s been 15 years, and Belle & Sebastian still play music isolated from every other band. Call it redundant, but it’s always nice to have a band you can count on to be great in all the ways you expect them to be great.

(Matador Records, 304 Hudson St. 7th Floor, New York, NY 10013)