CD reviews: Amos Lee; Cold War Kids; Corinne Bailey Rae

Amos Lee, "Mission Bell" (Blue Note)

Lee has a mildly sweet, honeyed singing voice and the tendency to feature it without much fuss. His songs, rooted in a soothing style descended from 1970s folk rock and rustic soul, rarely nudge him from his comfort zone. If you can accept the limits of his emotional palette, you can begin to notice the diligence behind his song craft and the deceptive ease of his delivery.

That's a big "if," but "Mission Bell," his fourth album, sharpens the payoff. Produced by Joey Burns of Calexico in Tucson, Ariz., it plants Lee in a stark landscape, enveloped by rustling percussion and reverberant drones. Some compatible peers, notably Sam Beam of Iron and Wine, contribute subtle background vocals. A pair of magisterial elders, Lucinda Williams and Willie Nelson, each bestow an implicit blessing.

The album opens with hymns of praise to the open road: "El Camino" (named after the California Mission Trail) and "Windows Are Rolled Down." But restlessness can only be lip service with Lee, whose truer moments here take the form of direct appeals ("Stay With Me"), plainspoken reflections ("Learned a Lot") and broken-down petitions ("Jesus").

The music often suggests old-time gospel or sanctified country, faltering mainly when Lee clearly evokes his heroes: Bill Withers, Bob Dylan or Stevie Wonder. The album peaks with "Violin," a beseeching ballad of the sort Lee has made his signature. It's a song about frustrated inspiration -- about songwriting, really -- and Lee stamps it with singular authority.

Lee performs March 24 at the State Theatre.

NATE CHINEN, NEW YORK TIMES

The word sellout is a cliché. But it has its uses. So yes, you could argue that "Mine Is Yours" is when Cold War Kids sell out. When the prickly, quirky nerds of yore trade their riffs for spacious anthems. Call it the Kings of Leon effect. Now, that's not the whole story -- but it's most of it. "Mine Is Yours" is a perfectly adequate indie pastiche that never quite connects. From the charged "Royal Blue" to the echoing title track, it's clear the band behind the brilliant "Robbers & Cowards" is trying for something more accessible. But in that attempt, they come up with little more than a slick, overproduced effort that will please many and amaze none.

EMILY TARTANELLA, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

Corinne Bailey Rae, "The Love EP" (Capitol)

After last year's meditative "The Sea," cut after her husband's death, this British soul chanteuse brings a renewed vigor here. It is a sweet-but-simmering batch of romantic covers recorded on and off stage during her recent tour. High points include a gorgeous little version of Paul McCartney's "My Love" and a classy reinvention of Bob Marley's "Is This Love." Prince's "I Wanna Be Your Lover" is proficient if predictable, but the dark sensuality of "Low Red Moon" (Belly) and cool-grooving "Que Sera Sera" (Doris Day as channeled through Sly Stone) find Rae taking the sorts of chances that give an edge to her sophisticated soul.