On his ninth album, "Exit Strategy of the Soul," Sexsmith builds on his folk-pop sound, adding gospel and soul elements along with a Cuban horn section and his own imperfect piano playing. Though many of his records have been written on piano, this is the first one that showcases his playing throughout.

"At the core of the record, I thought it might be kind of cool to have an element that was kind of unpolished, and have the other musicians play around that," Sexsmith said in his bio. "So that became the springboard for the sound of the record, with me banging away on the keys."

The album includes the Juno-winning artist's recording of "Brandy Alexander," a song he co-wrote with fellow Canadian Feist. The tune is streaming at his MySpace page.

Sexsmith, known as a "songwriter's songwriter," counts Paul McCartney, Elton John, Steve Earle, John Prine, Radiohead, Elvis Costello, John Hiatt and Sheryl Crow among his legion of fans. Though he hasn't captured mainstream success, he's fine with his place in the musical universe.

"Over the years, I've built it up to the point where I have a cult following, for lack of a better term," Sexsmith explained. "I don't have a huge following, but for the most part, they're very into it. So that's encouraging, and that's really all you can ask for these days."