At the end of 2013, Canadian singer-songwriter Rose Cousins took a break from touring after just more than a decade in the music business.

“I think I probably didn’t realize the great need for (a break),” Cousins said recently from Minneapolis. “And it is the challenge — as you can imagine, it’s the cycle. You make a record, you move through that record cycle … and then you kind of do it all over again.

“And there is very little downtime, especially when you’re self-employed and you’re creating everything from nothing, and then self-promoting and doing all this extra stuff and then actually going out and physically playing the shows. So there really isn’t a lot of reprieve in that cycle. And that is what I’ve learned, that if you don’t build it in, if you don’t schedule it in, you can really screw yourself.”

Cousins spent the next few years focusing on creative endeavors, including reconnecting with her longtime interest in photography. She also explored co-writing extensively for the first time in her career, traveling to Los Angeles, Toronto, Ireland, Boston and, of course, Nashville for writing camps and sessions.

All this creative work led directly to “Natural Conclusion,” Cousins’ fourth studio album and first since 2012’s Juno-winning “We Have Made a Spark.” The album, released in January, features a few songs she wrote with Andrew Combs, Jeff Bowman, K.S. Rhoads and more, alongside solo-written songs that are some of the most deeply personal of her career.

Now, Cousins is working her way across the U.S. and Canada in support of the album. The tour kicked off in Washington, D.C., in February and heads to the Sisters High School auditorium Thursday night for the final show in the Sisters Folk Festival’s Winter Concert Series. Nashville singer-songwriter Caitlin Canty will join Cousins for six dates on the West Coast, including the Sisters show.

Though that touring grind is still there, Cousins said she’s doing her best to build in more time for herself to avoid another burnout.

“That constant motion keeps my brain in constant motion,” Cousins said. “But I think the difference between this time and last time is that I’m aware of it in a new way, and I’m trying to take better care of myself by stopping for 10 minutes and lying on the floor, or listening to a record while I’m driving to kind of shift my brain, or trying to get as much sleep as possible, taking vitamins, that kind of stuff. I think I’m more aware of the toll that it can take, whereas last time I kind of didn’t and then it hit me all at once.

“It sounds just like normal human things,” she continued. “Even when you’re not in motion, it takes a lot to take care of yourself.”

This time out, Cousins also has some help from a band — bassist Zachariah Hickman (known for his work with Josh Ritter), pedal steel player Asa Brosius and drummer Shane Leonard. “I feel happy to be playing the songs close to what they sound like on the record, which I haven’t always done,” she said.

When Cousins talks about “Natural Conclusion,” the word “vulnerable” comes up often. Many of the songs deal with crumbling relationships, such as “Chains” or the brief yet somber “My Friend.” Others, such as opening track “Chosen,” find Cousins grappling with existential questions of self-confidence.

“Chosen” was actually the song that made Cousins realize she wanted to record another album. She wrote it in January 2015 on her own in Los Angeles prior to another songwriting camp. Her co-writing forays were initially not meant for a new record, but “Chosen” helped open the floodgates to more.

“I wrote that song and I was kind of like, whoa. It felt like it was one of those ones that kind of came out in one swoop,” she said. “And it felt like a new level of honesty and vulnerability to me, and I was kind of like, I feel like that could go on a record. I had a moment where I was like, whoa, I think maybe I could do it again.”

Co-written songs include dark rocker “Chains,” a collaboration with aforementioned musicians Combs and Bowman, and “Grace,” a song Cousins started on her own and asked friend and frequent collaborator Mark Erelli to help her finish.

The album was produced by alt-country singer-songwriter Joe Henry, whom Cousins met in 2012 at the Edmonton Folk Festival in Edmonton, Alberta.

“He’s such a beautiful poet and quite painterly with his records as well, and that aesthetic really appealed to me,” Cousins said. “In all of our conversations — we both love making things live, and believe in the ingredients, and the importance of the air in the room along with the notes being created. I think that shows up in this record with the space and the fact that we did it live.”

The resulting arrangements are lush yet understated, moving further away from some of the more energetic folk-rock found on “We Have Made a Spark.” Cousins wrote and played many of the songs on piano, her first instrument.

“I leaned heavily on (piano) before I ever played any music for anyone in public, and then I learned how to play guitar and became obsessed with that, and so was very focused on getting better at that,” she said. “And then over the last couple of records, I’ve turned back to the piano, which is the instrument that I learned on and probably the one that resonates with me the most deeply. And I think it helps accentuate the level of intimacy and vulnerability in these songs.”

“I think I probably didn’t realize the great need for (a break). And it is the challenge — as you can imagine, it’s the cycle. You make a record, you move through that record cycle … and then you kind of do it all over again. And there is very little downtime, especially when you’re self-employed and you’re creating everything from nothing, and then self-promoting and doing all this extra stuff and then actually going out and physically playing the shows. So there really isn’t a lot of reprieve in that cycle. And that is what I’ve learned, that if you don’t build it in, if you don’t schedule it in, you can really screw yourself.”— Rose Cousins

What: Rose Cousins and Caitlin Canty

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Where: Sisters Folk Festival Winter Concert Series, Sisters High School auditorium, 1700 McKinney Butte Road, Sisters

Cost: $20, $15 for ages 18 and younger

Contact: sistersfolkfestival.org or 541-549-4979