I think if you make music then you realy have to express yourself in the way you feel no matter who you are.
If its about the music for you then the worst possible situation you can find yourself in is that your not creating and sharing the music you wish too, so you have to go for it and hopfully people will feel what you are doing.
If like Henry you allready have a following then of course most of these people will not like any other sound that varies from what you are known for but new people who dont like your sound now will feel any new direction.

To put things simple.... some people like your music now and some dont, you change and some people will like your music and some wont so the important thing is that YOU like it.

This is the point of veiw coming from a guy whos money does not come from music so of course its going to be different from a guy whos music is his job (must be nice) : )