Uncle Kracker, “Coffee & Beer.”

It’s all about the simple life these days for Michigan-born singer Matthew Shafer, better known as Uncle Kracker. Paying the bills, punching the clock and grabbing a beer at the end of the day are the sentiments that the 50-year-old crooner carries.

It’s been an unusual career trajectory for Shafer, starting his career as a turntablist and sidekick to Kid Rock before going out on his own with a fusion of rap and country (more common these days!) and settling in to soulful Southern sounds. The ingredients that catapulted Uncle Kracker on tracks like “Follow Me” and his cover of Dobie Gray’s “Drift Away” are present on his sixth album Coffee & Beer, his first since 2012.

Swaggering opener “High On My Horse” doesn’t rely on the hip-hop of his earliest work, but there’s definitely a lyrical flow in the delivery. He’s definitely heard “Old Town Road.” Fuse that with some good ol’ boy Southern rock, and it makes for a fun start.

“I ain’t a cowboy but I’m high on this horse/ If two becomes too many, I just pour some more,” Shafer sings.

The title track is straight-up small town country, dealing with family and the lessons passed along from prior generations. The K-pop and Bitcoin references feel a little forced, but it’s a minor footnote on an otherwise inoffensive track.

“Honesty don’t bother me/ I’m not big on Socrates / I’ve learned all I know in dungarees,” he sings.

Along with the everyman charm, Uncle Kracker’s moneymaker has always been his distinct vocal tone. Whiskey-stained and tinged in cigarette smoke, the rough husky croon is instantly recognizable and adds to the track.

Songs like “Reason to Drink” add the requisite name-drops like Yeti and Chevy, and deliver sunny backyard jams heavy on folksy charm. “Reason to Drink” is about making the best of a bad day. That sentiment carries forward on mid-tempo acoustic jam “Life Goes On,” about overcoming everyday challenges from a warm beer to too many bills or a phone going dead at an inopportune time. It’s a simple message, but undeniably universal.

“Just Like That” and “Cruising Altitude” keep the momentum going. They have all the hooks and relatability Uncle Kracker have come to expect. “Beach Chair” is a change of place, trading in the rock for island sound—a sound pioneered by Jimmy Buffett—and including a shoutout to Kid Rock (meh). “Get Back Home” and “Lonely Lets You Down” flip the relaxed party vibes to earnest end-of-the-night sentiments. They’re the best produced and executed on the album.

The classic rock returns on the groove-heavy “You Should’ve Loved Me” before stripping everything away on tender acoustic ballad “Rockabye.” The latter really works well, as do the most earnest and intimate songs on Coffee & Beer. The album closes out with more straightforward country with “Sweet 16” and the pop-infused balladry of “Mark On Me.” The closer is an ode to a life lived from the perspective of someone who’s seen his share of ups and downs along the way.

“Stranded in a self-made hell/ I’m not sick but I’m not well/ They say nothing lasts forever/ I beg to differ/ I know better,” he sings.

Coffee & Beer delivers on its promise of relatable messages on songs that make sense of a complicated life. Uncle Kracker knows his strengths and taps into those on the album’s best moments.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.