CD Review

Your girlfriend’s gonna love it. Soulful and smoothed out, Amos Lee can be forgiven for treading on cliché territory because you can tell he really means it. Sure, this isn’t breaking any new ground, but sometimes that old familiar ground feels so good when done right. So, when he sings from sweet joy in “Bottom of the Barrel” and manages to avoid being saccharine, and adds this plaintive quality that works on the Maxwell-like “At Ease in the Arms of a Woman,” you can’t help but nod your head in approval. Though in places, his voice and songs would have benefited from a touch less of that “produced” (read over-produced) sound, and more rawness. It sounded like they were making up for his scant (but solid) guitar-work with piano, drums and bass, when it would have been fine without as much flourish. Overall, a solid debut.

Amos Lee will be touring this spring with Bob Dylan and Merle Haggard as the opening act for The Bob Dylan Show. For more info see amoslee.com