[BombaySapphire3]

By Steve Morse
Globe Correspondent / September 5, 2011

Whenever Lindsey Buckingham is apart from Fleetwood Mac, you worry that he’s going to drift into the ether. Buckingham needs the tension of Fleetwood Mac to bring out his best work. He can get too quirkily self-indulgent on his own, but this new solo album, “Seeds We Sow,’’ has moments of considerable beauty. His fingerpicked acoustic guitar once again shines, leading the way on the hypnotic title track and on such layered gems as the Nick Drake-influenced “Stars Are Crazy’’ and the edgy “End of Time.’’ His vocals throughout are often processed in a heavily reverbed manner. A few songs don’t work - “In Our Own Time’’ has some guitar fills resembling a buzzing gnat - but Buckingham’s sheer gift for melody wins out. The ballad “When She Comes Down’’ is a stately coup, while “One Take’’ is a political insight into this country’s dwindling middle class. Buckingham has made a hobbyist record to please himself, and he ends with a lovely, folk-flavored remake of the Rolling Stones’ “She Smiled Sweetly.’’ It’s almost a lullaby in his hands. (Out tomorrow)