Reggae tends to be an intense style of music: raw, often political, always immediate. Willie Nelson [ tickets ]'s brand features none of that visceral power. Instead, it's Willie, singing in his iconic, nasal, nice guy voice. There's something almost incongruous about "Countryman."

Produced by Don Was, "Countryman" is an album nearly ten years in the making. Indeed, it is Was' production that elevates the disc from mere novelty. See, Nelson may be singing over meandering reggae that brings to mind Jimmy Cliff and the politics of Kingston, but he could just as easily be singing over twangy country rhythms.

The contradiction is most obvious on "I'm a Worried Man," featuring Toots Hibbert. Where Willie sounds trite, Hibbert is deep. Oddly, the best track on "Countryman" is Nelson's countrified cover of Cliff's "The Harder They Come," where Nelson is right in line with the groove. The straight-up cover of Cliff's "Sitting in Limbo?" Not so much.

But, together with Was' infusion, Nelson's foray into island riddims does provide some memorable tracks. Notably, "Something to Think About" and "Darkness On the Face of the Earth," each intense and poetic, are full of world-weary longing and tight, complex production.