Phil Lee’s five-plus decades of playing music began with him sitting behind the drum kit. Upon that foundation, he builds songs that are rich in self-deprecating detail that range from charged roots rockers to filigreed country R&B. Recorded largely with minimal rehearsals, Some Gotta Lose reveals a live-in-the-studio vibe with Lee calling out solos or song endings—comments that remain in the finished product. Not that a guy who drove truck for Neil Young needs to display a sense of authenticity.
Here on his fifth album, Lee opens with “Ain’t No Love,” a Muscle Shoals slow burner (co-written with the late Duane Jarvis) and from that point declares genres be damned. He blasts through a rollicking take on the traditional “Lil’ Liza Jane” and the gospel of “I Pray It Never Comes.” “If Frogs Had Wings” is like a Sam Peckinpah film condensed into a three-minute song. Across the album he utilizes backing vocals that range from gospel choir to a Billy Sherrill nightmare.
The breezy Everly Brothers vibe of “Wake Up Crying” weaves a strange tale even Lee himself cannot unravel, and gives way to the bolero “Kiss of Fire.” “Beautiful Bubble” offers simple domestic bliss in a pop-jazz vein while avoiding sounding kitschy or retro. It contrasts willfully with the sensual smoldering soul of “Don’t Tell Me Now.”
