One-man-band John Crosby reenters the fray with Nude, his first release in four years of more of his signature electronic-tinged rock. Happy to retread previously-explored territory, Crosby mingles his soaring, emotional ballads and rockers with now-expected choral chants, strings, piano, and techno dressings. However, Crosby’s songwriting skills are still solid enough to make this third album a compelling release.

Defining the album is a song like “Thrown Away.” Commencing with sampled African chants and acoustic guitar, then quickly gathering in intensity before Crosby’s powerful vocals give the song definition and direction, the track reminds the listener that there’s still a lot to be said for bombast. The album’s progressive mix of diverse elements is still quite refreshing in this age where just one radio conglomerate owns the nation. Combine this with the beauty of tracks like “Lost,” in which gentle synths and a female voice swoop around and over Crosby’s soft-spoken remorse, and it’s easy to see that the same genius that powers these songs created past works like “Touched” and “Free,” which both received mainstream attention and acclaim as singles.

At its worst, Nude’s lyrics can prove laughable. On the soft mid-tempo “Ecstasy,” easily the album’s low point, the artist muses “Baby baby baby, you’re like ecstasy, maybe maybe maybe that’s because I’m on it. Baby baby baby, baby baby baby…” All the while, Crosby’s alternating his best impression of Bono with an almost robot-like droning previously reserved for existential angsty rockers. This number should have been left on the cutting-room floor.

Still, it’s hard to persecute a work which is still so easily enjoyable and so clearly demonstrative of the song-crafting talent only a classically-trained artist like Crosby can possess. Here’s hoping the artist can channel his talents and go on to bigger and better (and newer) things.