Rilo Kiley's Latest

If you have not yet heard Jenny Lewis sing - either by way of "Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins," "Postal Service," or as part of "Rilo Kiley" - you are missing one of the rare and beautiful musical gems of our time.

A handful of "old" Rilo songs you should listen to before proceeding: 1) It's A Hit 2) Portions for Foxes 3) I Never 4) A Man/Me/Then Jim 5) More Adventurous 6) The Absense of God.

Rilo Kiley's latest album is called Under The Blacklight. I've been working through each song in turn - trying to pick my favorites. Here are my top five songs from this album (today anyway...):

1. Silver Lining.
This one I loved almost from the first time I heard it. It shows off Jenny Lewis' a-mazing vocal talents and the fun pop-feel of Rilo Kiley.

2. Close Call.
Like many of Rilo Kiley's songs this one is haunting. I'm still trying to figure out what she's singing about but wow...it sounds sad...in a spectacularly beautiful way.

3. Breakin' Up
The lyrics and music to this song are so witty. It's just sonic fun.

4. Dejalo
Ok, normally, songs like this drive me up the wall, but this one is fun and makes me wanna dance...disco that is...

5. Under The Blacklight.
I could listen to Jenny Lewis sing forever. Her voice is smooth and even and it seems as though singing must come to her more naturally than speaking...even in really challenging vocal lines she shines. This song is on my top list because of the vocal line as well as the music. Just soothing and pleasant. It makes me want to sit in a hammock on a summer evening and sip a cool mojito.

Phew. Thanks to Ivan for giving me the freedom to talk about music to the blog world :-)