Ten years in the volatile realm of professional music seems like generations, but it has been that long since Roddie Romero’s last album, Everything Is Fine. Through thick and thin, the inseparable duo of Romero and ivory wizard Eric Adcock never lost sight of delivering a raise-the-bar follow-up, regardless of how long it took. But without self-imposed deadlines or succumbing to make compromising records for others, the 23-track, double-disc La Louisianne Sessions (the Lafayette studio where this was recorded) proves well worth the wait. Though it may seem voluminous, and conceptually thick as 40-weight oil, it’s really not, primarily due to the seamless blending of arty original material with stomping dancehall Cajun and riveting, first-generation zydeco that all flows naturally from beginning to end.

Multiple themes are threaded throughout these proceedings with the bedrock layer honoring those who inspired them. Several tracks pay homage to ’50/’60s icon Aldus Roger, where the name of the game was to get as close as humanly possible to Roger’s historic sound. Vintage mics were dug up as well as a cymbal and kick drum box that resulted in a propulsive, muffled beat. While those renditions are masterfully on the mark, the bone-chilling version of “Tes Yeaux Bleu” is one of the best ever, standing proudly besides the original waxed by a 13-year-old Joel Sonnier in 1960. Hitting sky-high, achy notes with weeping, torrential sorrow, Romero’s moving performance is a particularly eye-watering one.

Another theme revolves around zydeco king Clifton Chenier, whom Adcock felt the presence of when he played in former Chenier guitarist Lil’ Buck Sinegal’s band as a teenager. Sinegal returns here to burn a few strings on such scintillating Chenier cuts as “Party Down” and “Hey ’Tit Fille.” Interestingly, Fats Domino’s triplet-pulsating “Good Hearted Man” saunters its way in here under its original recorded title, not the prevalent Acadiana alias “You Got Me Walking the Floor.”

But what separates this from being just another solid album of familiar South Louisiana fare are the tasteful originals enveloped in sophisticated, relatively indigenous arrangements. Topics of various life issues are pitted against diverse backdrops of contemporary Acadiana, New Orleans junker piano, gospel-tinged R&B and even western swing. As talented as Romero is as a multi-instrumentalist, he’s equally amazing as a brown-eyed soul-drenched crooner, which gives these songs their final oomph. With such gems as “I’ll Be Sanctified,” “Love is Eternity” and “Lazy Lawyer,” Romero and Adcock can be taken more seriously as American writers who just happen to play kick butt Cajun and zydeco music.