Philadelphia's Amos Lee returns for another batch of his soulful folk with "Mission Bell", another strong entry in the 2011 musical sweepstakes. I've been listening to a lot of acoustic based music lately and Lee brings a different take from much of what I have heard with his infusion of soul.
"Mission Bell" is ballad heavy, with eight of the album's twelve songs falling in that category, but that is not a bad thing considering the strength of the material here. "Out Of The Cold" invokes its title with a chilly atmosphere warmed by Lee's silky voice. It's a gorgeous track highlighting his skills on the acoustic guitar as well. The jazzy shuffle of "Hello Again" and the blues inflected "Learned A Lot" are other standout ballads here. Also not to be missed is "Behind Me Now", with Lee showing off his falsetto on a beautiful melody over a sparse background.
Some heavy hitter guests were also enlisted by Lee, with my favorite collaboration featuring Sam Beam (Iron & Wine) on the lovely lament "Violin". Other guests include Priscilla Ahn on "Stay With Me", Lucinda Williams who duets on "Clear Blue Eyes", and country legend Willie Nelson who joins Lee to perform a duet on the album closing "El Camino Reprise", a track Lee performs solo to open the record.
There is no disappointment in the few, more uptempo tracks either. "Windows Are Rolled Down" mixes a persistent acoustic guitar strum with electric and slide guitar work as it steadily boils to its ending. The groove of "Jesus" belies the fact the track is actually about the loss of Lee's grandfather as he begs "Jesus can you help me now?", trying to make sense of his loss. Legendary R&B drummer James Gadson keeps the beat as well on this smoldering blues number.
Amos Lee has been steadily gaining recognition since his 2005 debut, and "Mission Bell" appears to be the release to take him over the top as it debuted at Number One on both the Billboard 200 Album Chart and as a digital release on iTunes. It's a well deserved reward for a richly rewarding album. Strongly recommended.
"Mission Bell" was released in the U.S. January 25, 2011 on Blue Note Records.
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