Risk Everything

Album Review

It's difficult to determine which side of the do-or-die equation deep-throated Nathan Lee prefers, given the near-apocalyptic portrayal of the world on Risk Everything. Ironically, Lee seems to thrive on the down-on-your-luck sentiment that punctuates every track. Risk Everything is an autobiographical tale of building and losing fortunes, but it leaves on a high note, giving a glimpse of hope in the end. Imagine Edwin McCain with an electric guitar and a much rougher, raspier delivery, and you'll have the man who has been led to the very brink of his universe. And while he offers few answers from the crossroads of his life — namely choices between God, music, stability, and love — his raw humanism endears him. Lee is the working man's everyman, a shoot-from-the-hip songwriter whose Americana vibe lands him squarely among the street ethics of the Wallflowers and Bruce Springsteen. A tighter, glossier production may have made the album more radio-ready, but it wouldn't have been a fit for the man who wears his heart on his sleeve and proudly displays it in the form of huge power chords and bar band anthems.