Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections announced the title of the former Goodie Mob MC's 2002 solo debut. Cee-Lo Green... Is the Soul Machine declared his 2004 follow-up. And if there was still any doubt that Cee-Lo loved high concepts, next came his Danger Mouse collaboration, Gnarls Barkley, and all of its costumed glory. Cee-Lo's third solo album is simply called The Lady Killer, but given his track record it's pretty obvious who that lady killer is meant to be. Admittedly, releasing a kiss-off single called "Fuck You" is not the usual MO of your typical ladies man, but then, there's nothing typical about Cee-Lo, a self-styled eccentric at once rooted in the formalism of classic soul but happily subverting the rules when the mood strikes. Motown, Stax, Philadelphia International-- all those familiar templates are on the table, but no one would ever confuse Cee-Lo's updates of revivalism or pastiche.
"Fuck You" is such a gleefully profane, giddily catchy song that frankly it didn't need a corresponding album. Still, as conspicuous an anchor as "Fuck You" may be, it's not the only thing the album has going for it. With a bevy of soul-digging producers at his beck and call (including Salaam Remi and Brit synthesizers Fraser T. Smith and Paul Epworth; Bruno Mars' crew the Smeezingtons did "Fuck You"), Cee-Lo has a blast role-playing the old-school soul man. Never mind the fact that his non-traditional voice isn't always the right fit for the material, the man's got more than enough personality to make his sideways take on mellow R&B soar.
Throughout, Cee-Lo manages to avoid being both too rough or too smooth; that means we get not only the buoyant Motown homage "It's OK", but also the quiet storm seduction of "Bodies". He goes slinking 80s synth on "Bright Lights Bigger City", its stalking bass line consciously echoing "Billie Jean", but he's equally at ease transforming Band of Horses' "No One's Gonna Love You" into a slow jam. He cedes much of the spotlight to Paradiso Girl Lauren Bennett on "Love Gun" and happily shares it with Earth, Wind & Fire's Philip Bailey on "Fool For You". The aptly named "Old Fashioned" is the most overtly old-school production on the disc, its call-and-response backing vocals and swooning strings relics of another time, but in the context of the disc it's less a flashback than a reverential reference point.
If the de rigueur synthetic frills keep The Lady Killer from the visceral, tactile highs of the current soul revival, they do remind that artifice can often be its own reward. That is, no one will put on The Lady Killer when they want to hear soul music. They'll put it on when they want to hear Cee-Lo's contemporary, confident conception of soul music, which isn't inherently inferior, just different-- and at its best, infectious. If he's not always lethal, that doesn't make him any less of an expert marksman.
