Two years ago, drinking too much and plagued by self-doubt despite the warm reception afforded his first two albums, Dylan LeBlanc moved back to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where he’d grown up with his session musician father. The return home has resulted in another strong set of subtly realised and beautifully arranged country-soul, only this time some of his earlier bleakness has been switched for a newfound pop sensibility. Roll the Dice, in particular, is a delight, its unhurried, pretty melody fighting a drowsily melancholic undertow. He doesn’t sustain the magic, however, with the result that Cautionary Tale is very much a front-loaded affair, the likes of Lightning and Thunder failing to spark.
