Happy (Jenny Lewis) (LP 3000 - 3004)

Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins  Rabbit Fur Coat (Vinyl, Team Love Records, 2006) ***  

Jenny Lewis  Acid Tongue (CD, Rough Trade Records, 2008) ****

Jenny Lewis  The Voyager (Vinyl, Warner Records, 2014) *****

Jenny Lewis  On The Line (Vinyl, Warner Records, 2019) ****

Jenny Lewis  Joy'all (Vinyl, Warner Records, 2023) *****

Genre: Alt pop 

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Acid Tongue; Heads Gonna Roll (On The Line)

Gear costume: Late Bloomer (The Voyager)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: The honour of kicking off the next 1000 records in my collection goes to Jenny Lewis. She is worthy!

Her first solo album (away from indie rock band Rilo Kiley) was with The Watson Twins. It is a typically assured effort on her part, and although she hasn't quite found her voice yet (that would happen on her next album), there are hints. Highlights are the title song and her cover of Handle Me With Care.

Acid Tongue is another step forward in confidence and execution. I mean, she even has a duet with Elvis Costello on the album. The material is still a little inconsistent, but the title song is both inventive and a pointer forward. Overall, she emerges as a creditable singer-songwriter with worthwhile stories to tell.

The six-year break between albums was useful because The Voyager is her first 5-star effort. Everything jells on this album, as highlights come thick and fast without any duds! The subject matter seems autobiographical as she examines/reflects on herself midlife and musically I like the description by one critic - Guitars roam wide-open spaces, couched in luxurious reverb and draped in strings; the rhythms often follow cool, steady eighth-note pulses; the surfaces always shimmer.

Her fourth solo album, On The Line, came five years after The Voyager, but given the similar cover shot, it seems a companion to it. It feels a bit more world weary than the brightness of The Voyager. Lead off song Heads Gonna Roll sets that vibe off. I love this record as it forms a different look.

The latest, Joy'All, feels a more flippant effort in comparison. The cover gives the clue with a 1970's knock-off image but don't be fooled - music this good takes work. The happy positivity of the title carries over to the songs. I also enjoy the more stripped back music on this one - definitely a second 5-star effort.

Where do they all belong? Always keen to see what she comes up with next.