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  • 6 months ago
"If you want to get to heaven/Get out of this world," sings Jenny Lewis in the title track of her charmer of a third solo album, The Voyager, out July 29. If the song's acoustic chords and slightly dreamy quality sound familiar — a bit like a certain Mancunian band that ruled during Britpop's '90's heyday, there's a reason for that. Lewis' producer and one of many collaborators on the new record, the notoriously prickly Ryan Adams, issued a challenge as work on the album drew to a close.

"[He] told me to go home and write 'Wonderwall,'" she says.

That Oasis assignment is just one of the revelations to come out of Refinery29's recent conversation with Lewis. It's been five long years since her last solo release, Acid Tongue, eight since its predecessor with the Watson Twins, Rabbit Fur Coat. Both those albums took Lewis in different directions from the rock orientation of her first gig in Rilo Kiley. But, with that band on indefinite hiatus, she explains, for this album, "there were no rules. Just serving the songs."

Lewis opens up about the topic that this batch of songs doesn't deal with (for once), and who kept the album "looking forward." And, with the tenth anniversary of More Adventurous fast approaching, whether there's any chance of a Rilo Kiley reunion.

The Voyager is in many respects an album about discovery of self and of the world — my favorite track, the rollicking, sparkling "Late Bloomer," is a journal of a long-ago trip to Paris. R29 managed to do some discovering of our own as we sat down to talk with the forever-irresistible Jenny Lewis.

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Transcript
00:10Hey I'm John Norris it is Refinery29 and a lot of records that people are excited about this
00:15summer but at long last a new album from Jenny Lewis and she joins us today it's good to see
00:19you. Nice to see you. It took three years to put this record together but that wasn't three
00:24straight I mean there were stops and starts in there right? There were. Postal Service Tour in
00:29there right? There was a Postal Service Tour I scored two films wrote a song for girls took a
00:37vacation I was going in the studio the entire time I'd get back from a Jenny and Johnny tour and
00:43we'd
00:44book a couple days in the studio. The people who have really been following you and know know the
00:50previous records and no acid tongue next Messiah know that that was a song that at least partially
00:56referenced your dad and you lost your dad and I think was 2010 was it is that part of the
01:00reason
01:00it's been so long for a new record? The loss of a parent is a really it's something you don't
01:06fully
01:07understand until you're in the middle of it mm-hmm and I really thought I would be able to just
01:11keep
01:12touring and playing but it kind of stopped me just stopped me from and I had to kind of reassess
01:19we
01:20actually were estranged for many many years and when he got sick that's when we kind of got to know
01:28each other mm-hmm it was really amazing to be able to spend that time with him I think this
01:33record is
01:34more I mean at least from what I can tell lyrically more about you and other things things other than
01:42your family your relationship with your parents my big sister she that when I gave her this record
01:49she called me she's like Jenny it just I love this record it's not about mom mm-hmm well you're
01:55right
01:55it's not the title the Voyager the last track on the record as well I would think that there's a
02:00reason that that title was the one you went for to sort of summarize this album I think I chose
02:06the
02:06Voyager one because it was the last song that I recorded and I wrote it as an exercise Ryan told
02:15me to write a song after we had recorded the bulk of the record and he said you know I
02:20think there's
02:21something missing from this record so what I want you to do is I want you to go home and
02:26write Wonderball
02:28and the Voyager was born and I brought it back to Pax Am and he's like oh man I don't
02:36think
02:36I don't think this is it what you told me to write this song I know I didn't write Wonderwall
02:42but
02:42please can we just record it just let me record it he's like hi you know I gotta go so
02:48I recorded
02:49that without him and it became the title track almost in a way as a little you know like all
02:55right
02:55you're not into this song you should call the record the Voyager it's upbeat music I mean lyrically
03:02there's some dark places but I don't think there's what would be considered a ballad on the album
03:07I think the Voyager is the closest thing and I think that's why Ryan instructed me to write it
03:13because that was the one missing element because I think we made a rock record which was cool to do
03:20especially in the wake of my band breaking up which on rabbit for code and acid tongue I felt like
03:26I
03:26kind of didn't want to really tread on into that territory because you weren't certain that
03:32Roderick Highland was sort of done yeah well and that's what I did with my rock band and so my
03:37solo
03:37music had to be different for sure but with this record there there were no rules it was just about
03:43the songs and kind of serving the songs and whatever form I just want to mention that August I think
03:5018th is
03:5110 years to the day from the release of an album called more adventurous really yes and uh so I'm
03:58just wondering if since last year you did a 10th anniversary tour with a certain band um how about
04:04I mean is that something you guys would consider doing uh an anniversary wait it's this year yes this
04:09August who knows what will happen I think we needed a break and we're still friendly most of us um
04:18so it's
04:19all fine we're family at this point and I can't imagine that we'll never at least play a show
04:26together again thank you so much thanks best of luck with the album it's great thank you
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