Music Review: Shaboozey – The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales
3 min read
Shaboozey has enjoyed one of the more remarkable rises in recent years, turning a blend of country, hip-hop, and Americana into a sound that’s not only unmistakably his own, but one that’s helped redefine what modern country music can look and sound like. Following the phenomenal success of A Bar Song (Tipsy) and the crossover breakthrough of Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going, The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales, his fourth album, released via Empire, sees him leaning even further into the mythology of the American West. Framed as a collection of stories rather than simply a collection of songs, the album promises landscapes, colourful characters, and a blurred line between folklore and reality. But are these tales destined to be written into legend, or to be used as kindling on the campfire? Let’s find out…
Title track The Outlaw Cherie Lee sets the mood – a cinematic Spaghetti Western-style opening monologue with Jamie Foxx, which leads to opening track Till Sunday, with Shaboozey’s unmistakeable mix of country instruments with hip hop to a thumping foot stomp beat, leading into the spaghetti western guitar chords of High Noon, which includes a cameo from Gunna. Jamie Foxx reappears in a second Western-style monologue in Hell Is Hot, leading to the lyrically descriptive (and very good – think more classic country) Sweet Revenge, then on to a little bit of a throwback track (has a 1970’s Cash-like country feel) If I Was An Outlaw, and then onto more of a 1990s/2000s feel in Cowgirl, with Leon Bridges adding vocals to Burn It Down – a track which retains the 1990’s vibes, but is very strong… possible the best pure country track on the album IMO.
A more Mexican, Desperado feel to the next spoken word track (Featuring Teyana Taylor this time) in Death Of Jeremiah Walker leading to the slow moving, sombre country ballad, Drunk, which is lyrically superbly descriptive. The short, atmospheric musical interlude of Ugly & All brings us to Bullets + Blades, a track witch features Kehlani, and is the truest love ballad on the Album… shortly followed by a second slow mover, Don’t Count Down, where THE Sam Elliott performs in this duet. If you’re a fan of Ennio Morricone’s A Fistful of Dollars – Main Theme, Lone Survivor is definitely for you, and some true slow galloping music and fantastic lyrics await you in Bounty On My Head.
In my opinion, the best track on the album, Born To Die could, nay should, be longer than the sub three minutes we’re given, whilst the storytelling and the harmonica stand out in Kissed By An Angel, and short musical interlude The Worst Of Them All (replete with thunder claps) lead to penultimate track Coyotes Point is another slow, cowboy storytelling country track to guide us through the storyboard to its conclusion – The Epilogue – which features Orville Peck singing out in, well… an movie-style Epilogue.
The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales is predominantly a story-telling country album with a little bit of hip-hop thrown in. The tracks are short and manageable, and I think you’re as good to cherry pick your faves as you are to listen ‘front-to-back’ and ‘start-to-end’. Shaboozey has produced a modern country album which has the feel of a classic western, and whilst it’s not necessarily what I would normally gun for, it is a well thought out, well executed piece of musical art (IMO). Yee-haw!!
