Sometimes you gotta follow your muse, even if it means trekking around the globe and jumping across hemispheres. Growing up with the household sounds of Satchmo, Australian bluesman Isaiah Brunt realized his drifty, spacious originals had a natural Big Easy affinity and thus recorded two albums—this being his second—at George Buck’s Audiophile Studios with producer David Stocker. This time out, the studio band included such luminaries as bassist George Porter Jr.; pianist Mike Lemmler; drummer Doug Belote; harmonica player Smoky Greenwell and New Orleans Suspects’ saxophonist/session arranger Jeffrey T. Watkins. It’s more upbeat and funkier than 2014’s Just the Way That It Goes, with full, groove-bound arrangements; sharp, snazzy horns and rollicking ivories. Brunt alternates between electric and lap steel guitar, often striking crunchy, jagged notes, quick-throbbing pulses and stinging steel riffs.

Yet, with the aforementioned New Orleans icons, don’t think of this as a fantasy baseball camp where Brunt only hobnobs with the stars. As a songwriter, he holds his own, sometimes delivering a zingy last line (“Still Waiting”) or an unexpected lyrical twist at the end. “Travel Back in Time” ingeniously juxtaposes rolling first-line snare beats and a swooning Dixieland riff while Brunt ponders time travel and seeing a younger version of his parents madly in love.

Overall, it feels more like a mind-bending odyssey than just a listen, with each track differing from its predecessor. The hammerin’ “Party Late All Night” artfully downshifts into the lazy shuffle of “Same Old Road,” which brakes even more for the cinematic title track and its humanitarian message about how love and kindness are immortal. Intriguing stuff.