Sunpie Barnes is to zydeco what Taj Mahal is to blues—an eclectic type who follows his music to African and Caribbean roots. The two performers also share a winningly laid-back personality that makes their most experimental moments go over like a cool breeze.

The 14 tracks here draw from gospel and blues, Afro-Caribbean rhythms, a pair of Mardi Gras Indian chants and some straightforward French-sung zydeco. But it maintains an upbeat mood, even when he takes on the traditional “Ain’t No Grave,” which sounds considerably less scary than the late-life Johnny Cash version. The title track opens the album with a clever fusion of styles—imagine Clifton Chenier going to Trinidad—but the sing-a-long chorus, along with a nod to John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” makes it clear this is goodtime music. Ditto the township jive-styled “I’m So Happy”—written after Barnes spent a week jamming in South Africa—which brings in a horn section to underline the mood of the title.

He takes in these diverse styles with ease, even when he combines a gospel chant (“Have Mercy”) with the melody of the old folk song “500 Miles.” And it’s no small feat to make a reggae beat work with a French lyric (“Zoli Matche An Dans Bonne Heure”), especially when the lead instrument is a kalimba. The more straightforward tracks work equally well, with the pure-zydeco “She’s Gone” stomping away the heartbreak of the lyric. And the prison blues “Down in the Bottoms” proves an ideal vehicle for Sunpie’s booming voice.