AM & Shawn Lee

Electro-soul old soul Shawn Lee is no stranger to collaboration. The Ubiquity Records lifer has worked with myriad artists, from the Dust Brothers and Jeff Buckley to Princess Superstar and Georgia Anne Muldrow. However, Celestial Electric (his first collaboration with singer-songwriter AM) shows Lee meeting the New Orleans bard halfway, creating what feels like his first true-blue alliance. Over the course of 12 living, breathing, pulsating tracks, AM & Shawn Lee come off as a honest-to-goodness band, exuding the personality of a quintet, exemplified by the funk-lite '70s groove of "City Boy," the synthesized charm of the melancholic "Different Forces" and the wah-wah pedal guided falsetto of "Winter Sun." Even the duo's deft cover of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils' "Jackie Blue" sounds blissfully organic and playful, showing just how comfortable AM & Shawn Lee sound on Celestial Electric. Vibes like this turned Beck and Phoenix into bonafide stars.