Lee Baggett

It may be almost December but I’ve got no intentions of wrapping up the year just yet. There are still plenty more albums to hit the review block and the latest finds perennial RSTB favorite Lee Baggett back at it once again. The West Coast songwriter has long lingered in the crumpled and creviced end of the Cosmic American canon and he shows no signs of digging out now. Waves for a Begull is a lightly toasted romp through country-kissed folk with a slight scent of funk wafting off the water. Baggett’s battered style has always been what shines, and he doesn’t shirk the reputation this tie around. Not that the songs are rough or low-fi in any way — far from it, to be honest. The songs on Begull are laced with Hammond, horns, and piano, thanks in large part to Cory Gray, but it’s how Baggett arranges his works that makes them feel like a faded jacket fished out of the lost and found.

The fuzz veneer over the guitars helps, but it’s more in the way that Baggett slouches his songs. With a straw hat hue coloring in the curves of his songwriting, Lee’s always been one to make the listener feel like they’re not intruding, rather that they’re just there on the couch to help conjure a few vibes. The works here feel like old friends come back to call one last time. Touches of Neil and Leon Russell soak the skin on Begull, but Lee pulls it off like he’s come to their conclusions on his own. Baggett’s never been one of the most prominent voices in the field, but he’s been one that never wavers. It’s another clean kicker of an album, an argument in favor of always keeping Lee on your radar.

Support the artist. Buy it HERE.