Robert Cray is talking about the future of Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, his brand new record, and his attitude is a little surprising. “We just did what we always do: we went in the studio with the same producers and the same band, hoping that this record is going to be better.

“I don’t have any goals for this record, other than I hope people like it. I don’t set goals like, ‘I want to sell 50 billion records.’ Nah, whatever happens, happens—and if the record bombs, the record bombs. We can still go out and work and that’s the main thing, being able to have fun and play.”

Cray sits back on the couch in his suit and smiles as he says this. Perhaps the most polite man in music today, you won’t catch him saying anything bad about anything. But when it comes to trying to calculate a pathway to platinum, you can count him out.