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Recorded in Arizona with Calexico's Joey Burns producing, Amos Lee's fourth studio album, 2011's Mission Bell, finds the singer/songwriter in a thoughtful mood and once again wrapping his soulful folk numbers in country, blues, and soft rock. A ruminative, lazy summer day of an album, Mission Bell is not dissimilar to Lee's last effort, 2008's Last Days at the Lodge, but lacks the more contemporary R&B tracks that made Last Days a bit of a departure from Lee's more granola leanings. Here listeners get the introspective leadoff track "El Camino" and the airy Steve Winwood-sounding ballad "Violin." Similarly engaging is the jaunty mid-album anthem "Flower," which is equal parts the Commodores' "Easy" and Hall & Oates' "She's Gone." It's a brilliant, joyously melodic number with the only downside being that it only works to remind you how melodically dire the rest of the album is. Which isn't to say Mission Bell is bad. On the contrary, there is a lot to admire here and maybe that's the main problem. Lee is a talented songwriter with a distinctive pop voice who is becoming recognized as an heir to the American singer/songwriter throne -- a notion given weight by the addition of several well-known guest artists here, including roots rocker Lucinda Williams and country legend Willie Nelson. That said, he often favors rambling, low-key country numbers that get you to quietly consider the bittersweet nature of our existence rather than lose yourself in the song. You come off a track like "Flower" and keep waiting for another one to grab you in the same "instant classic" kind of way. If Mission Bell rings true, it's in the lyrics with Lee's knack for stories and personal revelations keeping you listening, and not always the melodic content.

Mission Bell

Learned A Lot

Rockferry

Oh Boy

What's Left Of Me

Resolution (Main Version)

Four

Look Around

Just Wait

All Right Here

You Cannot Lose My Love

Waiting To Exhale

Count On Me (from "Waiting to Exhale" - Original Soundtrack)

Such Great Heights

Gossip In The Grain

Let It Be Me

Till The Sun Turns Black

Be Here Now

The Hits

I Need You

Plans

What Sarah Said

You Get What You Give

Colder Weather

Death Cab For Cutie- A Lack Of Color

Transcendental Highway

I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You

My New Moon

Hang On, Hang On

Look Up Child

Rescue

My Arms Were Always Around You - Peter Bradley Adams

KALA

You Can't Rush Your Healing

Scars & Stories

Be Still

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Matthew Miro