Equal parts charming and clever, Darren Hanlon has etched out a songbook that balances offbeat quips and rhymes with increasing sincerity. After coming up through Australia’s indie-pop scene with his band The Simpletons, the Gympie, Queensland, native notched the No. 45 spot in the annual triple j Hottest 100 with 2002’s “Punk’s Not Dead,” a scrappy, strummy tune about two lovers with starkly different musical tastes and lifestyles. That tongue-in-cheek portrait of diehard DIY culture became an enduring fan favorite, alongside 2006’s more fully embellished “Happiness Is a Chemical,” a sunny sounding yet cynical reduction of good feelings to simple science. As Hanlon has progressed in his homespun career, including considerable stints living and touring in the US, he has honed a subtle lyrical sharpness that one might not expect from his conversational vocal delivery. On 2010’s “All These Things,” he may riff slyly on such pop-culture totems as 50 million Elvis fans and a first edition of Peter Pan, but underneath is an affecting message about what follows us through life. After the winking intricacy of his wordplay early on, Hanlon has grown more grounded and autobiographical with time: 2015’s “When You Go” is steeped in melancholy and vulnerability, while 2021’s “Lapsed Catholic” counters its Jonathan Richman-esque breeziness with more serious reflections on personal faith and institutional prejudice.