AUSTIN, Texas--Anyone that heard Cody Chesnutt's widely acclaimed 2002 album Headphone Masterpiece is well acquainted with the ultratalented soul singer-songwriter's love for the lo-fi sound and DIY approach.

Cody Chesnutt

In a 35-minute set last night at the Exodus club, Chesnutt reminded everyone that he hasn't strayed from that mindset in the past five years, unveiling a forthcoming album called The Live Release that proved terribly compelling, warts and all.

"This is a completely new body of work that I'll be recording later this year, and in essence I'm releasing it right now straight to you," Chesnutt, wearing a long red cape with gold sequins, told the crowd.

Chesnutt is anything but conventional, and he emphasized that he considered the set a single piece of work and asked the crowd not to applaud between songs. The singer also showed his garish side a few times by actually shushing the crowd when it did try to show him love.

The new material is another batch of quirky, soulful, protest-heavy songs about hollow flamboyance, indulgence, the government, and the state of hip-hop. At times the songs sounded like spare Stevie Wonder ballads.

"We are afraid to say things that we really need to be saying," Chesnutt sang at one point.

The set was quite mellow throughout, with the solo Chesnutt being joined only by a muted trumpet for two brief stretches. The only time he perked up the crowd was during a section that featured the chorus of Dead Prez's "(It's Bigger Than) Hip Hop)" over some wah-wah guitar.

This was a brief window into the world of a peculiar soul man with loads of talent and a willingness to perform material that was far from polished. It remains to be seen if Chesnutt has any interest in putting a spit-shine on his work, like he and the Roots did to their 2002 breakout hit "The Seed."