Years before kicking off his career as a sharp, soulful songwriter and first-rate vocalist, Tim Halperin spent countless hours by the family record player as a child, listening to classic pop, Motown, and soul records.

"I would play my mom's copy of Michael Jackson's Off the Wall nonstop," he remembers. "There was a lot of Stevie Wonder and The Temptations in the mix, too, as well as some James Taylor and Neil Diamond. It was this cool combination of pop smashes and blue-collar songwriters."

With his newest release, Chances, Halperin ramps up the beat and bounce of his own sound, nodding to the pop music he heard during those childhood listening sessions. Filled with super-sized hooks reminiscent of 1980s radio hits, Chances bridges the gap between past and present, connecting Halperin's influences with something modern. At the core of the album is Halperin's voice and a reliance on honest, heartfelt songwriting.

Halperin has built his audience the old-school way: by hitting the road and playing shows, banging away at his keyboard while singing songs about his own life. Chances finds him turning a new page. There's still piano here, but it's joined by danceable drumbeats, thumping bass, horns, and even a gospel choir. The result is the most immediate-sounding record of his career, with songs that plant one foot in the familiar appeal of his influences and point the other toward new, unexplored territory. Halperin is taking chances… and those chances are paying off.