On last year’s Toups, his first blue-eyed soul Nashville album after a career of red-beans-and-rice Louisiana ones, Wayne Toups shed his zydecajun image so thoroughly that purists bad-mouthed the album on principle alone. On this year’s More Than Just a Little, in an apparent concession to those same purists, Toups makes amends: not only does he pose with his accordion on the inner sleeve, but he also plays it on at least half the songs.

He also opens with a gratuitous little something called “Ragin’ Little Cajun Love” and follows it up five songs later with an even more gratuitous little something called “After the Mardi Gras.” Nothing wrong with throwing the purists an occasional bone, but two such bones make the disc feel compromised. That Toups’ future lies in ignoring his naysayers and further developing his gifts as an interpreter of mainstream R&B is proved by the fact that Goffin-King’s “Standing in the Rain,” John Hiatt’s “Stand Back,” and Walt Aldridge’s Eagles-like “Free Me”—each distinctly non-zydecajun—are among the album’s most memorable performances.

Then out of the blue—and seeming almost like an afterthought by coming at the album’s end—is the eight-minute “Please Explain,” possibly the best performance Toups has ever captured in the studio. With its momentum-building false endings and wide-open band-jam spaces, it gives Toups, his accordion, and his group a chance to show off all their strengths in one place. It’s also as uncategorizable and catchy as it is long, making it a pleasant surprise on an otherwise predictable album.