2019 Contenders: Jenny, Jenny, I've Got Your Number...

I've no idea why Jenny Lewis chose to be photographed from the next down on her latest album cover, other than that the image is a direct follow-up to her last album cover which looked like this...

With another artist, you may wonder whether they were making a subtle comment about men who talk to / focus on a lady's boobs rather than her face. With Jenny, it's anybody's guess. She's very hard to predict / understand / pigeonhole... and maybe that's why she's become one of my favourite artists over the past few years.

On The Line continues a fine traditional of literate, sunny LA pop/rock records, with Lewis's uniquely detailed storytelling lyrics and her gorgeous vocals working together to mesmeric effect. Here's a fine example from the opening track, Heads Gonna Roll...

Took a little trip up north
In a borrowed convertible red Porsche
With a narcoleptic poet from Duluth
And we disagreed about everything
From Elliott Smith to Grenadine
He fell asleep and I put up the roof

And he took me to a graveyard
I thought he'd kill me there
And he kissed me on the corner
While the nuns of Harlem stared

The title track is my favourite at the moment - it's the Ronettes meets Karen Carpenter, built around a lyric that vintage Elvis Costello would have been proud to pen...

Before you let her under your sweater

Tonight
Listen to my heart beating
On the line

Surely a contender for track of the year?



(If anyone's wondering about the title of this post, it's a reference to this... which I'm really hoping will make an appearance in Charity Chic's Double Initials TT post this Saturday... but it probably won't.)