Joy'All

Jenny Lewis

Released on 9/06/2023 by Blue Note Records
Main artists: Jenny Lewis
Genre: Alternative en Indie

Available in

24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo

Unlimited Streaming

Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps

Start my trial period and start listening to this album

Enjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription

Digital Download

Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.

While Jenny Lewis's fifth album, Joy'All, was recorded with country producer-of-the-moment Dave Cobb in Nashville and features the singer wearing a spangled costume that belonged to Skeeter Davis on the cover, it's a stretch to say the Nudie suit-loving Lewis has gone country. In truth, she's as country as she's always been—it's more of a vibe than a defining genre for her, in the way that Stevie Nicks brought a country flair to Fleetwood Mac or that '70s Laurel Canyon loved a cosmic steel guitar. "Apples and Oranges" magically feels like some lost Motown country record. Ballad "Essence of Life," with Jon Brion's vibraphone adding a note of wistfulness, recalls Dottie West, who doesn't get enough love now in Nashville. And "Giddy Up" is no high-octane, Shania-style banger; Lewis is a breathy disco diva singing about the search for true love at 47 over a cool jazz strut: "Take a chance/ On a little romance/ We're both adults." She has said this is a record about relationships—with others but, ultimately, herself. Set to a groove of warm John McVie–style bass, courtesy of regular Cobb contributor Brian Allen, "Psychos" paints a portrait of middle-age dating and getting ghosted by guys you maybe shouldn't be bothering with anyway. Meanwhile, yacht rock-ish "Cherry Baby" keeps the "Giddy Up" mood going as Lewis admits: "'Cause I fall in love/ Too easy, too easy/ With anyone/ Who touches me, fucks with me … Cherry, baby/ Will you be mine?" "Puppy and a Truck" is classic Lewis, with the singer in her own very specific midlife crisis. "I don't got no kids/ I don't got no roots/ I'm an orphan," she sings, confessing, "My forties are kicking my ass/ And handing them to me in a margarita glass … So I'm 44 in 2020 and thank god I saved up some money." But that's not all she did: "Like a shot of good luck/ I got a puppy and truck." That easy-rolling number, like many others here, features excellently soulful backing vocals by Jess Wolf of Lucius. (It should be noted that Lewis has a particular talent for choosing vocalists who complement her lead, going back to the Watson Twins on 2006's Rabbit Fur Coat.) Fun "Love Feel" namechecks country outlaws and bears a little Miranda Lambert sass and a little of the '50s greaser doll appeal Lewis previously visited on I'm Having Fun Now from Jenny and Johnny, her duo with Johnathan Rice. And the lively closer "Chain of Tears" does, in fact, summon up a Skeeter-style spoken part and even evokes the break-up pain of the late singer's "End of the World," with Lewis lamenting, "I was hoping there was some pill I could take … Some procedure I could undertake/ To have your memory erased." © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

More info

Joy'All

Jenny Lewis

You are currently listening to samples.

Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.

Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.

From 12,49€/month

Psychos