Review Jenny Lewis - “Rabbit Fur Coat”

For those of you used to the rock/pop flavor of Rilo Kiley’s typical fare, you might be a little surprised by the more folky direction Lewis has taken with her personal songwriting. Her new songs are somewhat reminiscient of “More Adventurous” and “The Absence of God,” but the addition of the Watson Twins’ throaty harmonies take the transition one step further until you’re looking at what may as well be a gospel/country album.

Not that this is a bad thing. In fact, maybe Jenny Lewis is born to play this role. After all, her songs tell great stories; she can sing about the blues like few others I’ve heard. For example, in the album’s title track, the repetition of a simple 3 or 4 chords is all you need to provide the background for the true star of the song: the story it sings.

In the end, the album’s a hit. And are you ready for the best part? You can download all the tracks for free except for one (a rolicking cover of the Traveling Wilburys’ “Handle with Care” performed with the aid of M. Ward, Connor Oberst, and Ben Gibbard), and I’d highly recommend doing so. And once you’ve done that, buy “Handle with Care” off iTunes for $.99. It’s certainly a steal for an album that (in my opinion) is worth much more than the price of a Junior Bacon Cheeseburger.

Favorite Tracks: “Happy,” “Melt Your Heart,” “Rabbit Fur Coat,” “Handle With Care”

Pop on the Rocks is a blog/e-zine hybrid exploring all areas of Pop Culture.

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