Eli "Paperboy" Reed - 99 Cent Dreams (2019)

With the release of his new record, 99 Cent Dreams, Eli Paperboy Reed begins his second decade as an artist much in the same way he began his first: in love with soul music. Reed is ten years wiser this time around, writing with the kind of freewheeling confidence. The result is the finest of his career. Cut at the legendary Sam Phillips Recording in Memphis, TN, and produced by Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price), 99 Cent Dreams is exuberant, a celebration of life delivered by an ecstatic messenger. Reeds arrangements on the album are lean, filtering vintage R&B, soul, and gospel through the heart of a modern songwriter. His stunning voice remains front and center but his performances have matured, a sign perhaps of the newfound perspective hes gained with fatherhood. Fueled by love and hope, this is a collection that, despite its moments of loneliness and pain, ultimately insists on seeing the bigger picture, on recognizing each and every day for the gift that it is.