Rick Astley, “Are We There Yet?”

The Rick Astley renaissance continues to roll on. More than three decades after the 57-year-old released his debut album, and later teaching the world what it meant to be “Rickrolled,” the singer is back with his ninth studio album, Are We There Yet? Astley has recently shared the stage with Foo Fighters, played a pair of sets at the legendary Glastonbury festival, and had his music featured ON “Ted Lasso.”

For this latest work, Astley took to his home studio in Southwest London, taking on all writing, producing and recording himself. To top it off, he even played nearly every instrument on the record, save for some brass and keyboards. The resulting album is a fusion of ’60s soul with middle America heartland rock. The influence of the latter was born out of Astley’s tour with New Kids On the Block, Salt ‘N’ Pepa and En Vogue, which took him across America’s heartland by bus. The title of the album is both a literal and metaphorical question about Astley’s life and musical journey.

All those influences and personalities come together on album opener “Dippin My Feet,” a rhythmic and energetic bop. It’s heavy on percussion with handclaps, backing vocals and sunny outlook. Astley even shows off a little of his vocal range by fusing falsetto into the chorus. The sweet and soulful song offers a solid opening statement. “Letting Go” finds beauty in its simplicity, an acoustic-tinged ode to the butterflies of unrequited love. Ballad “Golden Hour” takes a few steps further South with bluesy harmony.

Are We There Yet? never delves so far into roots and sonics that it becomes a country, Americana or blues record. Instead, Astley takes all those musical flavors and fits them into a simple and earnest package tied togethter with his effusive nature. Astley channels Al Green on the phenomenal “Never Gonna Stop,” (no relation to viral sensation “Never Gonna Give You Up,” a track which has now racked up an unfathomable 1.5 billion views on YouTube.) Although the song offers some similar song craft, with repeated line starting with “Never gonna…,” it’s a total throwback that oozes sultry soul rather than a poppy tune. Astley’s vocals are lush and strong whether the tracks are upbeat jams or slower ballads.

The heat gets turned up on “Close (Your Shoes),” which starts as a piano-driven ballad before escalating into a deep mid-tempo groove. It’s likely easy for millennials and Gen-Zers to consider Rick Astley a novelty because of his viral meme, but his vocal chops are legitimate. Acoustic highway anthem “High Enough” even infuses a little bit of Springsteen-like everyman oomph into his performance. The swinging and swaying “Forever and More” transitions into the moody “Driving Me Crazy,” on which Astley’s deep voice channels a little big of Michael McDonald.

Easily the most fun song on the record is the brassy “Maria Love,” a rollicking upbeat track flush with percussion, horns, backing vocals and Astley’s best vocal delivery. Lyrically, the track is a bit heavier, weighing in on what’s happening in the world today.

“All the science in the world couldn’t save us from ourselves/ Oh lord when will it ever stop?” Astley asks, ultimately offering the conclusion that love is the answer.

Then there’s “Take Me Back To Your Place,” an earnest love song with record scratch sounds. The album closes out on a more reserved note, with the mid-tempo “Waterfall,” into the darker piano-driver closer “Blue Sky.”

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.