After launching his career as a singer, helped usher in a new era for with his debut, , teaming with arrangers and to create a collection of lilting, effervescent grooves sweeter than sugar. Although entries like are rooted in the earthy, rough-edged traditions of , is strikingly urbane: with its loping rhythm, squiggly guitar licks, and buoyant horns, the smash title cut embodies the album in microcosm, but even the sad songs soar, lifted by the sheer vibrancy of the arrangements. And while you can pull the boy out of the blues, you can't pull the blues out of the boy -- ' poignant vocals wring genuine emotion from the lyrics but deftly avoid theatricality at every turn. ~ Jason Ankeny