Write on Music's Favorite Songs of 2014

Better late than never, here are Write on Music’s favorite songs from last year (in alphabetical order):

Amy LaVere – “Last Rock ‘N’ Roll Boy to Dance”: Inspired by her own adolescent exploits on the lam, this Memphis singer/songwriter and upright bassist turned out one of last year’s most imaginative, musically adventurous albums, Runaway’s Diary. Songs by Townes Van Zandt (“Where I Lead Me”) and John Lennon (“How”) help to tell its story, but its finest moments – like this scene-stealing selection – are of LaVere’s own making.

Angela Moyra – “Bubbalu”: From this Dutch singer/songwriter’s charming debut LP, Fickle Island, this little ditty about a crush is so adorable it’s easy to forget that it’s really a lovelorn lament. Hurts so good, indeed.

   

Bruce Springsteen – “Harry’s Place”: The Boss’ most recent LP, High Hopes, inspired generally mixed reviews among fans and critics – except for Rolling Stone, which deemed it better than every other album released in 2014 save for U2’s similarly polarizing Songs of Innocence. Still, the album has its moments, like an electrified version of “The Ghost of Tom Joad” (featuring Tom Morello’s scorching guitar) and this song, which had been in the works for years and reflects an urban, edgier sonic perspective of Springsteen’s songwriting.

Cat Power and Coldplay – “Wish I Was Here”: This one (from the Zach Braff film of the same name) is so empathetic and universal it’s almost a wonder that it hadn’t been written before. “Every road that’s wrong feels like the road I’m on,” Chan Marshall sings like she knows the feeling all too well. Maybe you do, too. 

Coldplay – “Oceans”: For those who were perhaps disoriented by Coldplay’s more experimental efforts over the last six or seven years, Ghost Stories recalls some of the melodic, piano-rich balladry of earlier albums, Parachutes especially. This song in particular, enriched by an almost spectral intimacy and Chris Martin’s angular falsetto, is among its most intoxicating highlights.

Eilidh McKellar – “Home”: Hailing from Edinburgh, Scotland, this burgeoning guitar prodigy summons a mother lode of moxie and musicianship on her remarkable debut LP, Delta Devil Dreams. With this song in particular McKellar not only displays her rich, ribald guitar playing and honeyed vocals but also an endearing melodic disposition.

Jenny Lewis – “Love U Forever”: There has always been something irresistibly quirky about Jenny Lewis, a quixotic mix of understated musicality and narrative chops that at times includes fun bits of kink and blunt confession. Maybe this song is about a lifelong love affair, but you can dance to it even if it’s not.

Jessie Ware – “You & I (Forever)”: With her second album in two years, Tough Love, Ware has proved her debut (Devotion) was no fluke. This lovely song is among its highlights, and it features the most charming video you’ll see all day.

Johnny Marr – “Dynamo”: The former Smiths guitarist and all-around six-string wizard expanded his sonic canvas for his second solo LP, Playland, illustrated here by what Marr described to described to Write on Music as a love song originally written about a building. “But it was important to me that it felt like someone could sing it to a person who they love,” he added, “romantic love, family love, anything really.” Mission accomplished.

Kasey Chambers with Bernard Fanning – “Bittersweet”: The unflinching honesty expressed in this one is damn near chilling, and its video – shot in one take, ostensibly portrayed by children each representing Chambers and Fanning’s narrators – does little to break the tension or heal the heartache.

Leonard Cohen – “Slow”: Brandishing his old poet’s phonetic authority and a knowing, implicit nod to erotic metaphor, the world’s sharpest-dressed octogenarian heralds the virtues of taking one’s time.

Lera Lynn – “Lying in the Sun”: While the Nashville-based singer/songwriter’s recently released second LP (The Avenues) is currently earning rave reviews, the title track from her previous EP release is just too damn good to overlook. Lynn’s singing on it is breathtaking, her voice coming on as sultry as a slow Southern sunset.

Lily and the Tigers – “Just a Memory”: This aching, mournful gem is but one of the standout moments on the Atlanta, Georgia trio’s masterful LP, The Hand You Deal Yourself. “I definitely was listening to a lot of Otis Redding at the time,” lead singer and principal songwriter Casey Hood told Write on Music last year of the song’s conception. “I love soul and R&B music and Motown.” It certainly sounds that way.

Lucinda Williams – “West Memphis”: The alt.country icon shines a light on the case of the West Memphis Three while a raw, wicked groove sputters and snarls beneath her breath. Consider it a sort of conviction conniption, if you will.

Marissa Nadler – “Firecrackers”: There are artists who sing for you and ones who sing to you, touching a soft spot while your guard’s down to remind you you’re alive. Nadler is of the latter distinction. From her sublime LP, July, this song is utterly exquisite.

Nicole Atkins – “The Worst Hangover”: This stone-soul throwback appears on Atkins’ latest album, Slow Phaser, which is not only the culmination of a gifted artist coming into her own but also the best work of her career to date. 

Priscilla Ahn – “Diana”: With her third LP, This is Where We Are, Ahn signalled a shift, if not a complete departure, from the acoustic-informed aesthetic of her earliest recordings while this, the album’s sensuous opening track, sets the tone. 

Sharon Van Etten – “Nothing Will Change”: Van Etten summoned a tour de force with her 2014 LP, Are We There, translating often intense, personal introspections into universal revelations and, in songs like this one, delivering each lyric like a visceral, nerve-exposed soliloquy.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Forgotten Man”: Stinging with anger and resentment, this one starts off sounding a little like “American Girl” but soon imposes its own ornery indignance on Hypnotic Eye, easily Petty’s best album in years.

Wilko Johnson & Roger Daltrey – “I Keep it to Myself”: Literally knocking on Heaven’s door, the iconic Dr. Feelgood guitarist sought to make one last album, on which The Who’s indomitable frontman was more than happy to join together with the man. As Johnson told Write on Music last year, the chemistry between the two was immediate. “Everybody got on well,” he added. “We just started working ferociously.” And the resulting album, Going Home, is invigorating...almost as much as the miraculous twist of fate that ultimately saved this beloved legend’s life.

Read on...

Stream New Jenny Lewis Song, “Completely Not Me,” From Upcoming Second Volume of 'Girls' Soundtrack

Jenny Lewis is back with a new solo recording, the tribal and trippy-sounding “Completely Not Me,” which features on the upcoming, second-volume soundtrack to the Lena Dunham HBO hit series, Girls.

The former Rilo Kiley frontwoman has kept busy in recent years touring with the Postal Service (the reunited indie outfit featuring Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello) as well as having recorded an album with longtime love Johnathan Rice (2010’s I’m Having Fun Now) in the suitably named duo Jenny and Johnny. Lewis’ last solo album, Acid Tongue, was released in 2008.

“Completely Not Me” is currently available as a free download with all pre-orders of Girls Volume 2: All Adventurous Women Do…, which is slated for release February 11 on Atlantic Records.

Read on...

Jenny Lewis Serves Up '08 Album of the Year

Whether fronting Rilo Kiley or stepping out on her own, Jenny Lewis seems—at least on the surface—wholesome and enchanting, yet her maiden, girlish charm is but the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down. On her sophomore solo effort, Acid Tongue, the indie siren sweetens twisted tales of kink and squalor, serving up one intoxicating tonic and, to this writer's taste, the album of the year.

Having her way with a kaleidoscope of rich melodies, Lewis hardwires these songs with lucid imagery—lyrics conjuring the sinful and soulful, the sacred and profane—further distinguishing herself as an eclectic and versatile songwriter.

From the misty-eyed vibe that pierces through “Black Sand” and “Godspeed” to the rabble-rousing thrust of “See Fernando” and “Carpetbaggers” (spiked with a shot of Elvis Costello), from the salacious bent of “Jack Killed Mom” to the redemption bestowed within the title track, Acid Tongue is sated with mischievous bite. Jenny Lewis, by virtue of her talent and magnetism, just makes it easier to swallow.

Read on...

Johnathan Rice: No Ordinary Singer/Songwriter

For such a young guy, Johnathan Rice sure seems disillusioned — if not downright apathetic — on his latest album, Further North. Not that disillusionment and apathy are bad things to sing about; in fact, the 24-year old singer/songwriter does a real fine job of turning such sentiments into uniquely charismatic music.

Rice debuted in 2005 with Trouble Is Real, which not only showcased his deep and somber voice, but also his talent as a songwriter. The music leaned toward a rich sound, often with strings and a full band. This time around on his sophomore release, Rice has scaled the music down to evoke more of a primitive mood, replete with drums that wallop and thud amidst unadorned guitars.

He wrote six of Further North’s eleven tracks with his indie-rocker girlfriend, Jenny Lewis, who complements the album with much the same quirky aesthetic that she exhibits with Rilo Kiley. On “The End of the Affair,” a delicious little ditty that sounds too cute to cut so deep, they trade vicious barbs about saying goodbye. On the acerbic track, “We’re All Stuck Out In The Desert,” Rice sardonically asserts, “She calls the shots/That’s how we get along,” which sort of makes one wonder if he’s referring to his real-life sweetheart.

Two of the album’s most striking tracks feature driving rhythms with an expansive sound. “The Ballad Of King Coyote” rages like a backwoods bonfire, its music stark and rumbling while Rice’s voice booms through with an ominous air. And “THC” spills forth with a transcendental vibe, shrouded in wanton imagery and sonic derangement.

Throughout the album, Rice exhibits a curious vacancy in his voice that belies the brunt of some rather pointed lyrics, thus painting an odd paradox between the words and their expression. At one point during “It Couldn’t Be Me,” as the music sways at a pleasant pace, he sings, “She spoke with the prettiest mouth and she scorned me/She sharpened her teeth and flashed them to warn me.” And amid the vitriolic grunge of the title track, Rice insouciantly sings a litany of self-defeating prophecies, capping each verse with the refrain, “It’s all a waste of time.” Far from being worthless, Further North offers an intriguing set of distinctive songs. With his eccentricities and deadpan delivery, Johnathan Rice doesn’t come off as a conventional singer/songwriter, but that's not a bad thing and neither is this album.

Read on...

Feels Good To Be Free: Rilo Kiley, Live In Orlando

Snowball digs Jenny Lewis.

Lead guitarist, Blake Sennett, introduced his blond-haired brother from out of town, who he curiously called Snowball, adding that the band would perform his favorite Rilo Kiley song in honor of his attendance. "Try to hear this through Snowball's ears," Sennett added before the band launched into "Rise Up With Fists!!!" which, technically, isn't even a Rilo Kiley song. It's a Jenny Lewis song, from her solo side project last year.

Despite the discrepancy, this was neither the first nor the last time that Jenny Lewis would become the focus of Rilo Kiley's concert on Tuesday night (10/2) at the House of Blues. In an 80-minute set, the coquettish front woman entertained an enthusiastic crowd with flirtation and finesse, performing songs about promiscuity, adultery, and pornography, among other sordid versions of love.

Dressed in matching black hot pants and bustier, all five feet of Lewis looked ever so diminutive with an electric guitar slung on her shoulder for "Close Call." "Funny thing about money for sex," Lewis snarled, "You might get rich, but you die by it."

On "Breakin' Up," she abandoned the axe to strut the stage, spiritedly banging on a cowbell, drawing howls and screams every time she postured or pouted. "The Moneymaker," a strip-club anthem if ever there was one, turned the packed concert hall into a hotbed, for those so inclined, to slip into a sweltering groove.

If these songs lacked substance or if this band fell short on talent, such a performance would seem gratuitous. Fortunately, though, these are some well-written pop songs and this is one seriously proficient group of musicians.

On top of the polished pop songs, country-styled tracks like "I Never," which notably featured Lewis on keyboards, and "A Man/Me/Then Jim," further illustrated the breadth of influence and ability among the band members. The rhythm section of bassist Pierre de Reeder and drummer Jason Boesel laid the perfect foundation for tracks especially like these to flourish.

All eyes and attention fell back upon Lewis, nonetheless, as she girlishly ambled back to the keyboard to begin the encore. After a subtle swig of beer, she and the rest of Rilo Kiley played "Give A Little Love," which preceded a thrilling rendition of "Does He Love You?" that sent the already excited crowd into increased and deafening cries of joy. Near the stage, one young man leaped in the air, trying to reach Lewis as she sang the song's final words and waved goodbye.

Clearly, Snowball is not alone in digging Jenny Lewis.

Read on...