9.11.2008

Jenny Lewis' Acid Tongue

Jenny Lewis' first solo album, "Rabbit Fur Coat" quickly became one of my favorite albums in 2006. I absolutely loved it, and still do.

She now has a new solo album called "Acid Tongue." The teaser-self-titled track they released early, is a terrific song. Catchy melody, interesting lyrics, Jenny's voice sounds flawless, and the choir instantly makes you want to sing. It's exactly where she left off with "Rabbit Fur Coat."

Yesterday, the rest of the tracks for the new album showed up on her Myspace page. Rumors of collaborations with Elvis Costello, Jonathan Rice, Chris Robinson, M. Ward, and Zooey Deschanel on the new album kept me very curious. I wanted her to fall back into the characters she created on her first album.

And, I hate to say it; I think she really tried to do it again, but I'm extremely disappointed in the new album.

It doesn't feel fluid, and the songs aren't as interesting to me. My favorite track is still "Acid Tongue," which I highly suggest you listen to... but, all the other songs feel over-produced.

I will say, however, that Jenny's voice shines- this album really shows off her range. (Unfortunately, the song "Black Sand" sort of hurts my ears. It sounds like she's staying on a high C-note the entire song. A bit too high for me.)

If you've listened, let me know what you think. You can listen here. (I'm giving it another go this morning since I really wanna like it.)

2 comments:

Jo said...

hey, you read my mind! i was just about to ask your opinion on this, i swear!!

i was listening to it all morning and, sadly, i´m not loving it as well... i felt it was a bit forced. or maybe i was expecting too much...

i do like a lot acid tongue and tryin' my best...

since i love jenny, i think i will give the album some more time, hehehe.

Jeremy said...

I just finished my first listen through and I'm definitely not the Jenny Lewis aficionado you are, but I thought is was pretty good and to my ears-off a first listen-it didn't sound too overly produced.

I'm a huge fan of "Rabbit Fur Coat," and I think it's hard to compare the two though because RFC was a collaboration w/ The Watson Twins-who play country music-and this new album is pure Jenny Lewis, completely solo. Each have their highs and their lows, and right off I still am more fond of RFC, but that may just be due to the fact that it focuses on a more country-ish approach to the music, while this new one is more rock/indie/folk/etc.

There you are, there's my thoughts. Thanks for putting the link up!