Yusuf / Cat Stevens, “King of a Land.”

Cat Stevens, a significant presence on the ‘70s radio landscape with hits like “Peace Train,” “Moonshadow,” “Wild World” and “The First Cut is the Deepest,” has lived what seem like several lifetimes since the late those days. He converted to Islam, changed his name to Yusuf Islam and concentrated for many years much less on music than on humanitarian and charity work – and stirred up controversy in 1989 with comments about Salman Rushdie.

All these many years later, during which he returned to the pop music world, the Cat Stevens who produced massive 1970 hit Tea for the Tillerman now goes by Yusuf / Cat Stevens. It’s an apt metaphor for a man who, at 74, has combined his various experiences on King of a Land, with 12 songs that may not include an earworm like “Moonshadow” but do show considerable stylistic variety and—in almost every case—do so with the gift for melody that helped put Stevens’ ‘70s hits over.

Take single “Take the World Apart,” a jaunty low-key acoustic statement of purpose for a thoughtful man.

“I’ll take the world apart/ To find a place for a peaceful heart,” he sings.

It’s simple but engaging, harkening back to the spirit of those ‘70s hits. Similar is “King of a Land,” the title song, which philosophizes and–depending how one reads it–gets a little political: “If I ran the schools of this world/ I’d teach every boy and girl /I’d let them learn the truth.”

As has been true with Stevens’ 21st century body of work, he shows his spiritual side in several spots on King of a Land. But it isn’t preachy, nor in most cases specifically referencing Islam. Again, the title track rolls with “If I had the stairs to the sky/ I’d raise my voice on high/ I’d want the world to hear your perfect words/ Thank you.”

On this new album, Yusuf / Cat Stevens lets his love for his God speak for itself.

In a similar vein, he talks about what God has done for him on “Pagan’s Run,” which has a much tougher, electric-guitar-driven sound that bears little resemblance to those old hits. “Avarice was my road,” he sings before acknowledging it was God who made his paths straight. And Stevens even offers a nod to Jesus on “Son of Mary.”

In a sense, “How Good it Feels” is a sort of bridge from the folk-like acoustic fingerpicking of many of the songs on King of a Land with its lyrics about the joys of love and life’s simple pleasures, transitioning to a swell of orchestration. That bigger sound achieves full power on “Highness,” which begins with a choir singing and progresses into full orchestration. It’s another song about the beauty of God, and it does indeed sound as if it’s coming from the highest of places.

A lyric from “Highness”–“We know our hearts, and our heads, too”–offers a neat encapsulation of where Stevens is coming from in 2023. He isn’t afraid to sing the praises of his God, but is willing to weigh in on worldly concerns, too. And almost every song here offers at least a pleasant listen, and often more.

Follow journalist Sam Richards at Twitter.com/samrichardsWC.