It’s a week to the day since my second favorite scarlet-haired songstress, Jenny Lewis, dropped her latest solo album, and one song–well, one part of one song–has been playing back on repeat in the old domepiece. In the title track, “Acid Tongue”, Lewis starts out telling one of her trademarked lonely-girl-looking-for-love stories. From the intimate, demo-like production, it sounds like it could be just her and her guitar in the candlelit studio. Then the chorus hits.
Lewis sure invited a lot of friends to sit in on the album, and it seems that all of them showed up for this tune. Whether they’re backing up Jenny singing “liar”, “fire”, “tired”, or any other rhyme that the warped little tape loop in my skull can muster, Lewis’s choirboys and girls know how to give a chorus that big time gospel lift. Think Springsteen’s Seeger Sessions, but with hipsters. And I mean that in a good way.
There’s no doubt that Acid Tongue lacks the cohesion and confidence of Rabbit Fur Coat, but it is nice to hear a return to the folkier Lewis after Rilo Kiley’s stripper-pop stylings on Under the Blacklight. “Bad Man’s World” and “Trying My Best to Love You” are great ballads that introduce some new sounds (strings!) into the album’s sonic palette, and Elvis Costello absolutely busts it out on “Carpetbaggers”. The epic 8:45 “The Next Messiah” unfortunately falls a bit flat. (EDIT: Much cooler to see it live, but still–why so long!?)
Acid Tongue may be a bit sweet and sour, but it did lead me to the very enjoyable tunes of Johnathan Rice, Lewis’s beau. You can definitely hear his influence throughout Acid Tongue, and, more often than not, that’s him playing guitar. Saying complimentary things about Rice without turning greener than Bruce Banner is taking my last shred of decency, but I guess anyone who’s good enough for JLew is good enough for me. “You know I’m a liiiiiiiiiiiiii-aaaaaaaaaaar!”
