By Aaron Calvin, Assistant Entertainment Editor
Cee Lo Green has made himself into one of the most encompassing musical figures in recent years. Specifically through his collaborative effort with Danger Mouse, Gnarls Barkley, the soul singer has attracted both widespread radio play and critical acclaim. A follow up to such a successful album could be a disaster, but The Lady Killer is certainly not.
The album is bookended by title tracks, the first of which features a spotlight on a single piano, accompanied by a soft welcome before the eruption of powerful orchestration, setting the tone for the album. This sets up the next track, “Bright Lights Bigger City,” in all of its spaced-out disco fury.
“F–k You,” the first single of “The Lady Killer” and a viral success before the albums release, could very well be for Cee Lo what “Crazy” was for Gnarls Barkley. This song combines lyrics that mix the naïveté of youthful relationships with a heavy dose of casual cursing while adding in inescapably catchy hooks.
However, as is the problem with many records, the highlight seems to come early, and the tracks following “F–k You,” while consistent in quality, seem to pale a bit in comparison. The listener is awakened again, though, with the powerful “Love Gun,” that benefits a great deal from Lauren Bennett’s soulful voice.
Continuing along with one throwback style R&B song after the next, the album flares up with the song “It’s OK,” which is angry in the vein of “F–k You,” but is not quite as entertaining. “Old Fashioned,” a lulling tune, appropriately follows this and is the closest C-Lo gets to a ballad.
The second highlight of the album is also the curveball of the album, a soulful reimagining of indie-darlings Band of Horses’ “No One’s Gonna Love You.” Cee Lo keeps the sincerity and power of the original composition while flipping it on it’s head, allowing for a powerful finale. The album fades out on the second title track, a guitar solo sendoff to counterbalance the intro.
The Lady Killer, with all of it’s accessible and retro-themed soul, only works to further cement Cee Lo Green as a magnet figure of the music world.