You don't have to pity Ryan Cabrera, exactly, but you can feel a bit sympathetic for the guy: His bid for the big time got him jumbled up with creepy stage daddy Joe Simpson and romantically involved with the (and this is an awesome distinction) less-talented of his progeny, the hapless Ashlee.

Ouch! Not exactly the kind of thing that brings oodles of street – or any other kind of – cred.

Although it helped establish him in a teen-dream kind of way, that's a label young Ryan has been steadily kicking against these last few years, working hard on an album that is all his own, alterna-gritty and real.

That album, The Moon Under Water, drops Tuesday, and it shows what Mr. Cabrera always possessed: a workmanlike, if unamazing, song sense that is actually better than his pop-tart reputation might imply.

But, as his show Sunday night at the Palladium Ballroom's Loft illustrated, there are certain benefits to far-reaching pop-tart fame. Where Mr. Cabrera once drew hundreds, on Sunday a half-moon shone down wanly on (at the most) 75 fans. And this was a hometown crowd full of family and friends. (Mr. Cabrera is a veteran of local bands and even called his first album Elm St.)

Whatever – Mr. Cabrera seemed to relish the freedom of his new image, doing both old favorites such as "Shine On" and "True," and songs from the new album, such as "I Will Remember You."

He performed them all with crowd-pleasing aplomb and even a bit of grit, leading one to believe that his new, independent direction might be a good move, and not just a bit of pop-star posing.