Ben Harper, “Wide Open Light.”

Everyone loves Ben Harper.

And why not? From mainstream to Mississippi blues, he’s seemingly played everything with everyone, from a former Beatle to Charlie Musselwhite, Harry Styles and his own mother. Harper’s been adored by roots musicians, the college crowd and the old wrinkled orthodox bluesmen for decades. And he still writes fresh music and manages to offer a few mild surprises.

There’s nothing the three-time Grammy winner can’t do musically. So why would his new, mostly solo introspective record, Wide Open Light, not be a wonderful package that hits all the right notes during a time when some introspection is in short supply?

If you’re waiting for someone to spring a contrarian surprise, you’ll just have to keep waiting. Because with its minimalist approach and bare-bones production, Wide Open Light (which follows last year’s Bloodline Maintenance) is a wonderful record.

Harper vocally channels Cat Stevens and Paul Simon, pouring his heart out while mixing his voice with lots of slide guitar, piano and heartfelt arrangement. It’s raw and moody and, at times, evokes memories of campfires and clouds parting over green hills. He’s a man who’s been in, out and back in love, and he has some reflections and wisdom to share.

It’s not a groundbreaking record, and it might not make someone’s top-10 list. But it’s the kind of quality fans have come to expect from Ben Harper, who’s about as versed in modern Americana and roots music as one can be this century. It’s the kind of record fans of American roots music will play repeatedly. Some might even put it on just as their friends come over, to impress them. It’s charming and heartbreaking, and just vague but familiar enough to be relatable to everyone.

This isn’t one type of music lover’s album as much as everyone’s when they’re in a mood to tell someone how they feel, remember them, face their emotions and allow themselves to be moved.

After the acoustic guitar picking of instrumental tone-setter “Heart and Crown,” “Giving Ghosts” shows off some live, slide-guitar-driven soul with a lovely hook wrapped inside.

“Masterpiece” channels the picking and warmth of Cat Stevens, during which Harper sings of loving someone for who they are “and who you may never be.” It’s a sweet and fairly gorgeous story about love that doesn’t tip over into being maudlin.

Much the same is “8 Minutes,” with an early ’70s folk tone that, while perhaps not exciting to the ears, is certainly pleasant enough.

“Yard Sale” is the album’s first single, with some lovely harmonies from Jack Johnson telling a story about why going through a breakup (or searching for love afterward) is like a yard sale, a comparison I’ve never heard but one that definitely works.

Piano ballad “Trying Not to Fall in Love with You” is the record first left turn, present with some pop and personality that one could easily imagine being a pivotal song in a Broadway show.

Title track “Wide Open Light” shows so much depth and real emotion. It’s not unlike something Paul Simon might’ve written in the late ’60s. “One More Change” treads a little water before the much better “Growing Growing Gone,” which is as stripped-down and relatable as anything on the record, and has a surprising catchiness that may not be intended, but also works well. As it does on next song, “Love After Love.”

Closer “Thank You Par Brayer” is a gorgeous instrumental that goes from a drifting, almost choral sound during which some of those aforementioned images of clouds parting over hills as a slow breeze shifts the grass different shades of green appear in the mind’s eye. It a great wrap to a great, moody record.

Follow music critic Tony Hicks at Twitter.com/TonyBaloney1967.