Shaboozey’s ‘The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales’: Every Track Ranked

The brief, full-bodied strings on this instrumental bridge “Drunk” and “Bullets & Blades,” bringing a somber pause between the two tracks that offers the listener time to reflect on the first half of the album, while gearing up for the storylines more dramatic scenes to come.

“Remember, hell is hot and you’re going by yourself,” Foxx admonishes on this quick spoken interlude as the action heats up. But he’s looking on the bright side: “At least when you die, you won’t ever die again.”  

Shaboozey’s tightly-woven concept project continues its well-crafted narrative here, conveying a kindred spirit of sorts between a brave, focused, independent outlaw and fierce coyote taking ownership of its territory. This understated track nicely sets up the traditional-leaning cowboy song that closes the album.

A lilting guitar melody layered with mournful fiddle and harmonica introduces “Coyotes Point,” ending with a snippet of lonesome coyote whimpers.

Complete with the sounds of horse hooves and lonesome harmonica, Foxx opens the album with this spoken-word short track that lays out the plot: “This is a tale of revenge, and what lengths a woman will go to get hers,” he says. In the 44-second intro, he also warns us “there’s a hefty price to pay for revenge,” as we ride off into this cautionary tale.

A spooky spoken-word track from Taylor, backed by a piquant Spanish guitar. It’s unclear if she is supposed to be Cherie — but whoever she is, she has dreamt of the death of Jeremiah Walker and is hoping she’s not going out the same way. And if she is, she’s taking everyone with her.

Shaboozey deliberately delivers the lyrics here in a slurry, slowed-down cadence in this fiddle-led ballad as he contemplates the end of life. “If I’m dying, I want to die drunk,” he reasons. Though at this point, the outcome is still unknown.

Whistling and a rumbling rhythm intro this track, interwoven with Shaboozey’s burnished vocal and a dramatic chorus of backing vocals lending to its cinematic textures. “Now I got the whole town coming after me,” he sings. “It’s only you and me, so what’s it gonna be?”

Continuing his enticing mix of acoustic instrumentation and cinematic Western themes, Shaboozey offers up this mid-tempo track that furthers the concept album’s storyline. “Hammered and hell-bound, send me a prayer tonight/ Because God forgives but they don’t,” he sings, etching a scene of a man on the run, with plenty of enemies on his trail.

Stomp-clap tune with a slightly menacing delivery from Shaboozey, as he warns, “If you ever make a deal with the devil, you’re going to have to settle up one day/ You can only ever run til Sunday.”  Who knows if that’s true, but it sounds good and ominous, especially in his hands.

This genial track will inevitably draw comparisons to Ella Langley and Riley Green’s “You Look Like You Love Me” with its spoken-word patter and light-hearted instrumentation (and the Western-themed “Love Me” video). Shaboozey contemplates “Maybe I should go grab my 45 and go down to the bank and say, ‘Put your hands up where I can see ‘em.’” But it becomes clear that he’s likely just going to stay at the saloon and drink. Charming and lighthearted singalongs about robberies are pretty rare, but add this to the canon.

This advance single references “A Bar Song” and has the same good-timey vibe at Shaboozey’s signature tune complete with handclaps. It’s reached No. 20 on Billboard’s Country Songs chart so far, and served as a strong transition between his two most recent sets. The song doesn’t advance the story about Cherie Lee (unless the line “she’s on the run” serves that purpose) and doesn’t match much of the album’s ominous tone, but is still a toe-tapping good time, and likely translates much better live than a number of the other songs.

Opening with a high, lonesome whistle in homage to the quintessential Western of the same name, this shuffling track also works as a tribute to life on the road, as Shaboozey sings, “Everywhere we go, we bring a crowd.” Gunna joins in effortlessly on the second half, singing about the “bad h–s with the pretty pink toes.”

The sound of footsteps enters the scene on this spoken-word track, followed by famed actor Sam Elliott’s unmistakable voice. “Time’s Up, outlaw!” he says, instantly laying out a scene of a final showdown between two veteran cowboys. “The way I see it, you’ve got two choices — stand down now and turn yourself in, or die here… you’ve got ‘til the count of five,” Elliott is heard saying, just before the track segues into “Lone Survivor.”

Crackling fire, harmonica and whispers of wind introduce gentle guitar, giving the feel of an intimate song that could, indeed, be easily sung around a campfire. “All the wrong I’ve done has left its mark on me,” he sings, capturing the struggle between virtues and vices, the haunting of past failures and hope for a brighter future. Shaboozey’s blanket-warm voice has a world-weary feel that gives extra nuance to the song’s introspective lyrics.

Shaboozey lays down some major exposition about Cherie, who left home at 19 to “find every man that did her wrong”  as she seeks “the bitter taste of sweet revenge.” A lonesome fiddle drives the track, which serves as one of the album’s more melodic and captivating chapters, as it builds from the fiddle into a full instrumentation. As one of the album’s longer tracks at nearly 4:00, the tune allows Shaboozey to stretch out as he advances the story, and leans into Cherie’s narrative. Musically, it is also one of the album’s most compelling, as the melody swells with haunting backing vocals. “Ain’t no mercy where you’re going,” Shaboozey warns.

Easily one of the album’s most interesting and incendiary – somewhat literally — tunes. Shaboozey threatens to “take a match to this town and burn it all down” to avenge Cherie’s hurts, before Bridges comes in for the second verse, with his smooth voice is the perfect complement to Shaboozy’s sandpapery vocals. More collaborations between the two would be welcome. The strong rhythm and fiddle work make this one of the most solid tracks on the set, along with a melody that is less reliant on Western tropes than some of the other songs.  

The “epilogue” that closes out this album is a collaborative track featuring Orville Peck on the traditional cowboy song “Streets of Laredo” (also known as “The Dying Cowboy”), which has previously been recorded by artists including Marty Robbins and Johnny Cash. This nod to a classic makes for a fitting conclusion to this outlaw-themed concept project.

Shimmering guitar and fiddle work that at moments feel reminiscent of his massive “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” lead this celebratory song about soaking in every moment and “raising a glass to living like we ain’t born to die.” One of the album’s more commercial-sounding tracks, this feels like a charming, mellow soundtrack for a party.

This swaying track’s swell of strings underscores the song’s reckoning with traces of evidence of past trauma and emotional battles. “Blood leaves a stain that reminds us of pain/ And one day it will all wash away,” Shaboozey sings, while Kehlani brings a soothing counter-vocal, adding to the song’s dramatic but hopeful essence.