The title of Cee-Lo Green's new mixtape Stray Bullets is a misnomer, suggesting a return to the paranoid gun play of the singer-rapper's Goodie Mob daysor, for that matter, a return to rap period. Instead, Stray Bullets builds on the soulful throwbacks of Cee-Lo's solo albums and, in particular, his retro-minded records with Gnarls Barkley (most of the mixtape's tracks are credited to a producer called The Grey Area, but many could be mistaken for Danger Mouse productions).
With eyes fixed squarely on the bedroom, Cee-Lo croons frantically over easy R&B, throwback boogie, blaxploitation funk and Serge Gainsbourg pop. Even his attention-grabbing reunion with Goodie Mob, "Night Train," owes more to the after-hour jams of Cee-Lo's solo records than his grimy output with that group. More typical of the mix is "Cho Cha the Cat," a randy collaboration with The B-52s.
The mixtape is posted for free download here; it's intended as a prelude to Cee-Lo's upcoming Lady Killer. If these are the scraps that didn't make that album's cut, it's safe to set expectations for the new record pretty high.
