Cat Stevens is wonderfully alive and back with the same waxy lyrics, ragged voice and troubadour, soul-searching style that made him a superstar in the 1970s.

And yes, his name has changed to Yusuf, but the music he makes on this album is as good if not better than vintage Cat Stevens at his guitar-over-the-shoulder, preacher-poet best.

There is an honest sincerity about his songs, heavily spiritual, moving and beautiful, although at times I found the rather child-like repetitiveness of his lyrics a little irritating.

One song in particular, 'All Kinds of Roses', is almost painful in its over-simplicity and oft repeated lines.

The danger of him singing with a guitar in one hand and a bible in the other is that he will irritate, even alienate, some people who would otherwise relate easily and comfortably to his laid-back presentation and the particularly classy backing of acoustic, Spanish, electric and 12-string guitars.

But hey, this is Yusuf, the re-invented Cat Stevens and this is his new way of looking at life and singing about it. Most of it is quite harmless and easy to listen to, although in my case it will have to be in short bursts of only one or two songs at a time.

Taking in all ten songs on this CD in one session would be like driving non-stop from Cape Town to the Equator in an old Land Rover.

But sensitive soul, hippie preachiness aside, 'Roadsinger' is Yusuf’s best work since his return to secular recording three years ago.

Grey-beards and ladies in sensible shoes who used to groove on Stevens in their pot-smoking, flower power youth will love it — and so will thousands of younger searchers for a better world.