From Manchester filter to Philly sounds: Jenny Lewis picks her favourite records
Before Jenny Lewis pivoted her entire career to music, she achieved a name for herself on the small and big screen, featuring in titles like Golden Girls, Roseanne, Baywatch, Pleasantville and The Wizard. However, forming Rilo Kiley came with another hidden desire—to occupy the stage as a charismatic frontwoman who connected with audiences by belting out lead vocals.
As the band leader, Lewis stood out as someone unflinching in the face of adversity, her confidence carving out a space as someone worthy of the spotlight enough to embark on a successful solo career. Beyond her obvious talent for genre-blending, Lewis charmed with her overt vulnerability, which complemented her laid-back, quietly confident stage presence and natural ability to engage audiences.
Lewis officially kicked off her solo career in 2006 with her project with The Watson Twins, Rabbit Fur Coat. Along with a collection of deeply personal lyricism, this album saw Lewis prove her capabilities as a standalone artist, drawing on themes like materialism, modernity, the pressures of fame, and self-reflective shortcomings. For everything it was worth, Rabbit Fur Coat was a unique and daring venture that went against the mainstream musical convention at the time.
However, it was 2008’s Acid Tongue that solidified her as a solo artistic force, as Lewis’ expansive palette ventured forth, and she appeared far less restrained in her openness about self-destruction and losing sight of what’s important. For this record, she also collaborated with the likes of Elvis Costello, Jonathan Wilson, Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes, and more, pulling together facets of every musical figure she idolised to complete her perfect vision.
This also demonstrated Lewis’ appreciation for an array of musical influences from traditional folk and indie rock to singer-songwriter, Americana, and reggae. Delivering an intriguing glimpse into her musical tastes, she once revealed a varied palette during an interview with Uncut, in which she shared some of her most cherished albums. The first of which included The Durutti Column’s Amigos em Portugal.
Lewis chose this as her “dressing room track”, which makes sense as she goes on to recall how Jimmy Tamborello bought the record while she was touring with The Postal Service, setting the scene before hitting high-stakes headline shows and arenas. “I assumed that it was some sort of world music,” Lewis recalled, “But then when you find out it’s world music through this Manchester filter it’s really fucking cool.”
Alongside The War On Drugs’ elusive Lost In The Dream, which reminds her of her Philadelphia-born father and makes her feel closer to Philly, Lewis also named The Brothers and Sisters’ Dylan’s Gospel as her pick for “spiritual album”, noting how the group applied an endearing gospel spin on some of Bob Dylan’s most noteworthy classics. “It’s just great song after great song, and to hear something exist in another musical realm, and still work is really exciting,” she commented.
A relatively new addition to her collection, Emmylou Harris’ Wrecking Ball might have appeared as a somewhat slow burn considering it was released almost three decades ago, but Lewis maintains it was worth the wait: “This is a record that I didn’t really listen to at all when it first came out,” she admitted, “but we’ve been putting it on in the house recently, and it’s just so beautiful.”
Some of Lewis’ other choices, including Fy-Ah Fy-Ah, might come as a surprise to some, but in a broader sense, it all demonstrates the singer’s ability to pick the right music at the right time, for the right mood—no matter what. Regarding the popular Bob Marley record, she recalled playing this to her audience before her set and enjoying seeing “the little teenagers bopping their heads to Bob Marley.” Clearly, Lewis has done something right with her own music if, somehow, beneath the surface, she manages to evoke legends from all over without even intending to.
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