New Delhi, April 3 -- Bruce Hornsby's new, reflective album starts off sweetly and melodically, a musician looking back at a fascinating life. Then it gets weird. That's by design.

"I'm going along very nicely and then I might just throw something at you," the three-time Grammy Award-winner warns from his home in Williamsburg, Virginia. "I'm well aware that a whole lot of my old-time fans just hate that."

"Indigo Park," a 10-song set that arrives Friday, is a concept album of sorts as Hornsby mulls over his childhood and where he's come from. To borrow a line from one song, it's "one life in reflection."

The album - which features appearances from Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig, Bonnie Raitt and Bob Weir, his late Grateful Dead bandmate...