Chris Lee's 'Cool Rock'

Chris Lee has suffered too long under comparisons. Reviews have mentioned the late Jeff Buckley, Colin Blunstone, and even Ryan Adams, as much for Lee's singular voice as the sharpness of his songwriting. Such is the fate of a "new" artist. Perhaps now, with his third album, Cool Rock, only weeks from the record bins, the sound-like comparisons will stop. He wears a mustache now, after all.

Cool Rock will be released by Misra Records on June 3rd. Featuring the drumming of Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley (who released Lee's last album, Chris Lee Plays & Sings..., on his Smells Like label), and mixed in Nashville by Marc Nevers (Lambchop, Will Oldham), Cool Rock is the third installment in a series that Lee describes as "love songs in C major." Let's hope the series has a dozen more installments. The songs are catchy, rich, and relaxed, with a Southern ambience.

Unlike Lee's self-titled debut (Misra, 2000) and 2001's Chris Lee Plays & Sings..., Cool Rock includes the vibraphone player Yusuke Yamamoto, adding a summery gauze in places where Lee's former albums sounded spare. The result is golden: with better support and tighter songs, Lee's voice relaxes and soars even further.

"I'm trying to write more on the level where the song plays itself," Lee said during a recent interview. "I'm constantly telling my guys, you don't need to play the song, you have to let it play you. That's a real weak, clichéd way of saying it, but the song should play itself, and that's what good songs do."

The album's eight tracks include the stand-out, restless and sparkling "Sail On," and two gorgeous ballads for the warmer months, "Say It Ain't Soul," and "Lately I Want You." Surprisingly, the album's most triumphant and sublime cut is a cover: somehow, Lee squeezes out all the pain from Mississippi John Hurt's "Nobody Cares for Me" and finds sweetness in the remains.

Maybe now, in the old age marked by his third album, it just comes natural to Lee. As he told us, "Everything becomes easier as I get older." And, may we say, better.

Lee is scheduled to solo-tour the United States this summer. Tour dates and locations can be found at his Web site .— Rosecrans Baldwin [Tuesday, May 27, 2003]