COUNTRY MUSIC - I Am Shelby Lynne, Shelby Lynne

Shelby Lynne is an anachronism in the best sense of the word. Alabama-born, this twentysomething singer is in love with classic pop and soul, the kind sung by Dusty in Memphis and Aretha in Muscle Shoals. Working here with producer Bill Bottrell, Lynne has fashioned a remarkable album of orchestral epics ("Your Lies"), lazy-afternoon dance music ("Thought It Would Be Easier"), and gorgeous, bluesy ballads ("Lookin' Up," "Black Light Blue"). Most of the album's 10 songs are firmly rooted in the '60s and '70s, but Bottrell's production and Lynne's still-wet-from-sex voice guarantee that the album sounds time-capsule fresh instead of past-expiration-date retro. While Lynne has made fine albums before--1993's big-band and Western-swing CD Temptation is particularly good--I Am Shelby Lynne is the best work yet by a singer as stubbornly committed to musical tradition, and as defiantly out of step with country music trends, as another former Nashville maverick, Lyle Lovett.

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