The Cat came back. Guess he just couldn't stay away. Though to be fair, he did give it a pretty good shot. It's been 28 years since Cat Stevens made his last album, became a Muslim, changed his name to Yusuf Islam and retired from the pop business. But his long-awaited return An Other Cup sounds like it could have been recorded the very next decade, if not the next day.

Indeed, anyone fearing that the 58-year-old singer-songwriter would unleash an album of ethnic Middle Eastern devotion needn't worry -- these dozen lightly spiritual tracks aren't too far removed from the gentle folk-pop troubadourism of his former persona.

Islam is still blessed with a strong, supple voice and gift for melody, and puts both to good use on soothing numbers like Where True Love Goes, Maybe There's a World and the karmic ode In the End. His cover of Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood recasts the Nina Simone / Animals classic as a brooding neo-classical prayer.

Green Fields, Golden Sands resurrects an unreleased '60s ballad and updates it with lush electronics. And Islam even rocks out briefly on I Think I See the Light, a punchy piano number with jazzy Latin touches.

There are a few hippie-dippy moments when he starts babbling about butterflies leaving their silk palaces or the eternal source of love. But mostly, An Other Cup is preaching the gospel of James Taylor, Van Morrison, Paul Simon, Steve Winwood -- and Stevens himself, of course.

We'll take a refill.

Track Listing:

1. Midday
2. Heaven/Where True Love Goes
3. Maybe There's A World
4. One Day At A Time
5. when Butterflies Leave
6. In The End
7. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
8. I Think I See The Light
9. Whispers From A Spiritual Garden
10. The Beloved
11. Green Fields, Golden Sands