2008 Woodie Awards
Good even when she's alone
Guest vocalists and dark lyrics make Jenny Lewis' solo album a winner
by Ali Ramsey
Issue date: 10/2/08
Section: Music
Whether she's going solo, singing with a guest or fronting the four-person band Rilo Kiley, Jenny Lewis is always a hit with critics and fans.
Her new solo album "Acid Tongue" is no different. Released a week ago, "Acid Tongue" already received high reviews from magazines such as Entertainment Weekly, Blender and Rolling Stone.
In its review of the album, Entertainment Weekly noted that, "Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis, once merely a tart-tongued indie-rock pixie with a surprisingly powerful pipe, has evolved into a sort of modern-day torch singer - a hip-swaying, soul-tugging chanteuse with a country-gospel heart."
On "Acid Tongue," Lewis sings songs that are reminiscent of her previous solo album "Rabbit Fur Coat" with some Rilo Kiley thrown in. Her low, soft voice comes through in "Black Sand" and "Pretty Bird," the first two songs on the album.
Lewis then squeezes three different songs into the nine-minute medley, "The Next Messiah." On the track sharp guitar cords and loud drums match perfectly with Lewis and her boyfriend Johnathan Rice's deep voices. In the song the two sing, "Covering it up/Squeezing it out, watching it bleed/You're watching it all, taking it back/She's down on her knees/ When did she come to detest you?"
Rice's dark appearance in "The Next Messiah" is only the first of many other guest appearances on "Acid Tongue."
Big names such as Elvis Costello, Zooey Deschanel and the Black Crowes' Chris Robinson lend their voices to the album. The collection of guests adds for something different than what is found on other Lewis-related albums.
One of the only songs that doesn't work and shouldn't have been included on the album is "Bad's Man World." For almost four minutes Lewis repeatedly sings "It's a bad man's world." There are other lyrics included in the song, but they are overpowered by the number of times the title is sung.
Lewis' sister, Leslie, and her dad, Eddie Gordon, also contributed to "Acid Tongue" with the song "Jack Killed Mom." In the honky-tonkish song, an upbeat piano and lyrics start out but before too long the song goes into dark lyrics such as, "Oh, Mom, I love you, and soon you will be free/With my will and my hands like old Solomon/And in your honor I'm going to cut that man in half." The song ends with a series of people chanting, "Jack killed Mom" and Lewis screaming in the background.
While Lewis' solo albums have ended up a hit, it's she as the front woman of Rilo Kiley that always come out on top.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Ali Ramsey is the Reporter variety editor
Her new solo album "Acid Tongue" is no different. Released a week ago, "Acid Tongue" already received high reviews from magazines such as Entertainment Weekly, Blender and Rolling Stone.
In its review of the album, Entertainment Weekly noted that, "Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis, once merely a tart-tongued indie-rock pixie with a surprisingly powerful pipe, has evolved into a sort of modern-day torch singer - a hip-swaying, soul-tugging chanteuse with a country-gospel heart."
On "Acid Tongue," Lewis sings songs that are reminiscent of her previous solo album "Rabbit Fur Coat" with some Rilo Kiley thrown in. Her low, soft voice comes through in "Black Sand" and "Pretty Bird," the first two songs on the album.
Lewis then squeezes three different songs into the nine-minute medley, "The Next Messiah." On the track sharp guitar cords and loud drums match perfectly with Lewis and her boyfriend Johnathan Rice's deep voices. In the song the two sing, "Covering it up/Squeezing it out, watching it bleed/You're watching it all, taking it back/She's down on her knees/ When did she come to detest you?"
Rice's dark appearance in "The Next Messiah" is only the first of many other guest appearances on "Acid Tongue."
Big names such as Elvis Costello, Zooey Deschanel and the Black Crowes' Chris Robinson lend their voices to the album. The collection of guests adds for something different than what is found on other Lewis-related albums.
One of the only songs that doesn't work and shouldn't have been included on the album is "Bad's Man World." For almost four minutes Lewis repeatedly sings "It's a bad man's world." There are other lyrics included in the song, but they are overpowered by the number of times the title is sung.
Lewis' sister, Leslie, and her dad, Eddie Gordon, also contributed to "Acid Tongue" with the song "Jack Killed Mom." In the honky-tonkish song, an upbeat piano and lyrics start out but before too long the song goes into dark lyrics such as, "Oh, Mom, I love you, and soon you will be free/With my will and my hands like old Solomon/And in your honor I'm going to cut that man in half." The song ends with a series of people chanting, "Jack killed Mom" and Lewis screaming in the background.
While Lewis' solo albums have ended up a hit, it's she as the front woman of Rilo Kiley that always come out on top.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Ali Ramsey is the Reporter variety editor
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