Todd Westbrook’s name is the only one on the cover of By the Quarter Moon’s Light, the Baton Rouge singer’s second CD, but the recording comes across more like a collaborative effort between Westbrook and guitarist Wendell Tilley. Local music fans may remember Tilley as the frontman for Baton Rouge funk rock band Func Haus, an outfit that was at the top of a lot of Next Big Thing lists but then somehow came up short. Tilley’s work with Westbrook indicates his talents may be better utilized by unplugging Func Haus’s amps and concentrating on more textured playing. Besides supplying Quarter Moon’s bright production and playing all electric and acoustic guitars on the record, he wrote five of the 10 songs, and co-wrote another two. His style compliments Westbrook’s voice.

Westbrook has made great strides in the five years since he took up playing music. The major artists he references are first-caliber. “I Don’t Know the Reasons” echoes James Taylor and “Better Unsaid” opens with an echoey, Chris Isaak-style guitar. Throughout, many of the cuts are accented by organ and steel guitar and flugelhorn (which adds an effective little flourish to “A Soldier’s Heart). The compositions are fleshed out but still have plenty of room to breathe. As a whole, the album falls somewhere between folk and country, and is deeply satisfying. It signals the arrival of an extremely promising new musical partnership from Baton Rouge.