I’m a contributing writer for The Agit Reader, a weekly music webzine based in Brooklyn. Here’s a recent review that I wrote about Amos Lee’s new album Mission Bell.
It can be frustrating when a natural singer-songwriter glides through a conveyor belt of clean arrangements and glossy tweaks. On his fourth studio album, soul-folk artist Amos Lee unfolds a dozen songs which mostly droop from too much slickness. Mission Bell features such notable guest musicians as Lucinda Williams, Sam Beam (Iron and Wine) and Willie Nelson and was produced by Joey Burns (Calexico), but it doesn’t rival the brusqueness of Lee’s 2005 self-titled debut album.
Overall, Mission Bell is safe, pleasant, and pretty. “Windows Are Rolled Down” is characterized by intense radio-friendliness, while “Flower” is an uncanny mix of Pure Prairie League’s “Let Me Love You Tonight” and the Commodores’ “Easy.” Glimmers of sweet coarseness appear on more honest cuts like “Learned A Lot.” The most poignant track is the 12th, “Behind Me Now/El Camino Reprise,” the second half of which Nelson sagely contributes. If the rest of the album would have sounded as unhinged, its value would have risen.
Lee’s record label refers to him as “one of the most important and prolific songwriters of our time,” and while he’s clearly gifted, he shines more without lights. He doesn’t need egregiousness or overproduction. Predictable records have their place in dentist offices and department store bathrooms. This, however, is a man with something to say who simply needs simple means. Where’s Rick Rubin when you need him?
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