Real estate agent by day, singer-songwriter by night: Lisa Palumbo lives a dual existence, and she’s happy to do it.
The Northampton musician, who’s been a regular with her band over the years at the annual Transperformance show at Look Park — they’ve portrayed the Police, REM, the B-52s and other groups — plays her own music more intermittently, most often after she’s composed and recorded a batch of new songs.
And after doing just that in the past year, Palumbo and her band are headed back to the stage: The group will debut Palumbo’s latest album, “Crescent Moon,” at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton on Sunday at 7 pm.
The Lisa Palumbo Band will also be performing tracks from Palumbo’s 2012 album, “River,” as well as other pieces written and composed by the ensemble.
Palumbo, 50, said that while she writes the lyrics and develops the melodies and basic framework for her songs, her band has a vital role in shaping the finished tunes.
“I play [a song] for the band and they add their parts and harmonies,” she said. “Then the song goes through another creative cycle. My band adds so much to the final song. I’m really lucky to make music with them.”
The group includes Greg Eramo — Palumbo’s husband — on drums, Tom Sturm on acoustic guitar, Joe Boyle on electric guitar, Conor Dowling on bass and Lesley Smith on accompanying vocals. Palumbo, meantime, adds acoustic guitar, piano and lead vocals.
“Crescent Moon,” recorded and mixed at by Mark Alan Miller at Sonelab in Easthampton, also includes the work of Russell Chudnofsky, who adds electric and slide guitar on selected tracks such as “Curie Me,” “Run Through the Rain” and “Do I Do?”
It’s a varied album with a range of instrumentation and style, including up-tempo, pop-rock numbers like “Carry Me” and the title track, some heavier rock on “Postman,” and more folky songs like “Once” and “Greensleeves” that feature chiming acoustic guitars.
Lyrically, Palumbo explores themes like the passage of time and how even when physical changes take place, memories can remain. In “Comet,” for instance, she recalls a favorite candy store she went to as a girl, along with her best friend, in her hometown of Rockville Center, N.Y. She discovered the store is now gone.
“Recently I’ve noticed things have turned around,” she sings. “The candy store’s become a Hallmark shop / Everything in ruins but my perfect memory / Of my best friend is luminous and strong.”
“I feel like there’s something more valuable about holding a memory and holding someone dear without knowing what they’re doing,” said Palumbo, who doesn’t make much use of social media. “I wanted to write a song about that feeling, of how the candy store had changed and I’ve been out of touch with that friend for a long time — but that she still is with me.”
Palumbo said that though most of the songs on “Crescent Moon” were composed in the last five years, the disc includes some work spanning twenty years. Considering the album’s timeline, she said, “There’s an autobiographical drive to it. Like keeping a journal.”
The oldest song, “Greensleeves” — it’s the 12th and last tune on the CD — was written for her husband in November 1994. The track was remastered from its original version to include the full band.
“I wanted to revive that song,” said Palumbo. “The current configuration of the band is very different than it was in 1994 and I wanted re-record it with a different feel.
“I wrote it for my husband when we first started seeing each other,” she added. “I wanted to dedicate a song to him because he’s so supportive of my music.”
The couple have a 15-year-old daughter who served as the inspiration for another song, “Loser Weekend,” a humorous look at how Palumbo’s desire to hang out and relax at home clashes with her daughter’s desire to be entertained.
“Mama, I need — something fun to happen, right now, right now / Mama, I need you to take me to the mall — right now / Mama, you seem all too happy with your feet off the ground, / Playing your guitar …”
But in “Curie Me,” Palumbo offers a musical vote of confidence for her daughter and other young women as she references successful women: “Make me smart like Madame Curie / Make me brave like Sally Ride. / Let me brush off things like Hillary / Let me know what is implied.”
Palumbo, who before becoming a real estate agent taught music for 10 years, including at White Brook Middle School in Easthampton, says her songs generally begin musically, with a melodic idea and chord sequence that she develops on piano or guitar, after which she begins thinking of lyrics.
Sometimes, though, a lyric develops first and she works to build music around it. Generally speaking, she says, “My goal is to try avoid clichés and also to try to tell a story and not just make bold declarations.”
Palumbo says she first performed at the Iron Horse in 1996 and is excited about returning there. She’s also planning a series of other performances in the Valley this spring to showcase the songs from the new album.
The Lisa Palumbo Band performs Sunday at the Iron Horse Music Hall. Molly Merrett and Maggie Shar (of The Ephemeral String Band) open the 7 p.m. show. For tickets and additional information, visit iheg.com.