Patrick Wolf continues his ran-away-with-the-circus aesthetics on his third full-length album, “The Magic Position.”

His sound is a diverse and phantasmagoric creation of brass and strings. Wolf meshes threads from folk music as readily as drum machines and electronic influences into a powerful carousel of an album.

The execution of “The Magic Position” is stronger than his previous albums, but lacks a little bit of the spark and geist of his 2003 debut, “Lycanthropy.”

The closest and most obvious reference point would be Bright Eyes. Their backgrounds are similar, both being musical prodigies who had started numerous bands in their early teens.

Yet, unlike his Omaha counterpart, who lets his energy explode into uncontrolled crescendos, Wolf manages to navigate his songs through the dangerous reef of the overtly passionate with a steady hand.

Wolf’s dark and brooding, almost crooner-like voice is a nice contrast during the up-beat songs. In the slower, moodier songs it fits in perfectly.

In “Overture,” Wolf makes sense out of noise, starting out with a monotone drumbeat and proceeding into rich pop. He does that a lot with his music, finding the beauty in what at first seems unapproachable and busy.

“Accident & Emergency” is the strongest song of the album. It sounds as if the zoo just escaped, but in a good, baroque manner. The song carries itself with a contagious self-confidence that is nice to hear.

“The Magic Position” also includes some softer ballads, such as “Augustine” and “The Bluebell.”

The only thing about Wolf that is hard to come to terms with is that he is almost a little bit too spot on. There is such a thing as sounding safe in ones own eccentrics.

It is almost as if Wolf is so out there, doing his fun, playful monkey dance, that it would have been more exciting had he dared to turn it down a few notches and tread new some ground.

“The Magic Position” was released Feb. 26 on Polydor.