Review: Rabbit Fur Coat by Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins

By By Chris Brower

Thursday, February 9, 2006

Jenny Lewis has made a name for herself over the last decade performing with the indie/alt-country band Rilo Kiley. While Rilo Kiley takes a break before recording their next album, Lewis has released her first solo album (with the help of the soaring background vocals of Chandra and Leigh Watson), Rabbit Fur Coat.

Rabbit Fur Coat finds Lewis digging into her childhood when she listened to hours of country and gospel albums. On the upbeat “Rise Up With Fists,” Lewis deals with the current state of the United States and writes some of the best lyrics of her career: It’s like trying to clean the ocean/ what do you think you can drain it?/ Well, it was poisoned and dry long before you came.

Lewis bares her soul on such singer-songwriter-type songs as “Happy” and the title track, “Rabbit Fur Coat,” which has some of Lewis’ most personal lyrics, which discuss her past as a child actor, something she rarely talks about. She also shares things about her mother that she’s never sung about on albums before. Later, she tackles religion on one of the album’s standout tracks, “Born Secular.” an emotional trip highlighted by The Watson Twins’ powerful harmonies.

Rabbit Fur Coat has a great variety, from the upbeat “The Charging Sky” to the laid back, late night classic, “Melt Your Heart.” It also features guest vocals by Ben Gibbard (of Death Cab For Cutie), Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst, and M. Ward on the Traveling Wilbury’s cover, “Handle With Care”.

The big question before hearing this album, was whether Lewis could write great songs without her Rilo Kiley partner in crime, Blake Sennett. The answer is yes.

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