“My father always told me to take my time,” Lil Nathan sings about the sage advice pops Nathan Williams (of Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas fame) often imparted about establishing oneself in zydeco. But don’t expect this Nathan to be a knockoff of the old man. Since his debut that was released five years ago at age 14, he has patiently evolved his own sonic signature. Other than the senior Nathan’s preference for piano-note accordion—which Lil’ Nathan also plays some astonishing licks—nothing else suggests that he’s a second-generation copycat living off the family name.

Instead, Lil’ Nathan distinguishes himself with a sound firmly entrenched in contemporary nouveau zydeco, rather than in his father’s traditional-based style. He plays three songs on the smaller, diatonic (Cajun) accordion, a squeezebox that his father never plays, and the University of Louisiana-Lafayette junior makes good use of his jazz music studies by utilizing jazz chord progressions that are atypical of the cultural, dance-oriented genre. Several more are in minor keys but retain a surprisingly perky feel.

Song-wise, Lil’ Nathan makes a quantum leap here too from his first disc that was 80 percent dad. He writes about stuff everyone can relate to such as hangovers, relationships and the make-ups and break-ups of life. A couple are so downright catchy that it’s easy to visualize other bands covering them in the future. Wrap it all up and there’s only one conclusion: Lil’ Nathan is the freshest zydeco artist to come along in some time.