Jenny Lewis Follows Her Bliss on “Austin City Limits”
With news of Jenny Lewis reuniting with her former band, Rilo Kiley for a North American tour, after a 17-year break, this got me to thinking about Lewis’ most-recent solo album, Joy’All, and her 2023 appearance on PBS’ “Austin City Limits” (ACL). Lewis was on the iconic music program to promote the album, which reflects her life during, and after, the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the 30-minute airing, she and her band (Megan Coleman, Drums; Nicole Lawrence, Guitar; Jess Nolan, Keyboards and Vocals; Ryan Madora, Bass and Vocals) performed six songs. They opened with the title track, which despite the unsettling picture the opening verse paints confirms in the chorus Lewis’ shift to find the silver lining in an otherwise dark cloud. (Yes, that was a Rilo Kiley reference in there.)
The poetic, picturesque, “Heads Gonna Roll,” from her 2019 album, On the Line, was next on the set list, followed by a pair of songs, “Cherry Baby” and “Psychos,” with a theme that fits right into Lewis’ lyrical wheelhouse: relationship disconnect. The last two performances, the empowering ode to singlehood, canine companionship, and life’s simple pleasures, “Puppy and a Truck” (“I ain’t got no kids/I ain’t got no roots/I’m an orphan/Catch me if you can/I’m lacing up my boots”) and the stream-of-consciousness, “Love Feel,” serve as the antidotes to the aforementioned angst.
As is customary after an artist’s televised performance, ACL includes interview footage, where Lewis summarized her perspective: “The older you get, you realize that with the good stuff you have to take all the other stuff as well, and it’s just the balance of the joy and the suffering… I just write through all of the things, the good times and the difficult times. You just write to all of it.”
Check out the performance of “Psychos,” where Lewis makes additional references to balance (“Jesus Christ and the devil/Yin and Yang”; “When you are up and down”; “Is it the ego, the id? Hello, goodbye”), as well as the cyclical nature of life (“It’s a merry-go-round”), that lyric now even more profound as Lewis embarks on that 24-date Rilo Kiley reunion tour. She’s taking her own advice: “Follow your joy’all.”
Love ‘Em and “Leo” Fast: Holiday Sidewinder’s Ode to the One-Night Stand
In the summer of 2018, Australian pop singer, Holiday Sidewinder released her catchy single, “Leo,” with its refrain including a synthesized rhyming roll call of lovers, everyone from Leo to Rodrigo, Marco to Diego, and a few others. The track could be seen as one woman’s reinterpretation of Prince’s “Little Red Corvette,” the tale now told listing the names of “the jockeys that were there before me,” as His Royal Badness once sang.
“Leo” is certainly intriguing, for it manages to sound like one thing, but say something completely different. Sidewinder’s vocal style suggests coy innocence, while the lyrics point to a woman who doesn’t mince words (“I’ll give you tonight, but I won’t call you tomorrow”), even brazenly forewarning: “Lock up your husbands, and lock up your sons.”
Provocative content aside, and there’s lots of it, “Leo” works on its own as a smartly constructed pop song. The first verse features a bass-synthesizer as the hero instrument, giving it all kinds of ‘80s feels, with Sidewinder’s aforementioned vocal delivery adding a dreamy effect; her character mojito-intoxicated in the nightlife. After the roll-call refrain, the rapid-fire drums give way to the carefree-sounding chorus, the morning walk of (no) shame has never sounded sunnier, thanks, in part, to more melodic vocals, reminiscent of Gwen Stefani’s. And with the start of the second verse, the bass-synthesizer gets replaced by a deep bass-guitar riff, only solidifying its ‘80s new-wave nostalgia. Take a listen, and you too might quickly love it; if not, just move on.
Pop Playlist: Kylie Minogue: “Aphrodite”
The title track to Kylie Minogue’s 2010 album, Aphrodite finds Kylie confidently stating her case to another as a goddess incarnate. The track could be considered the stronger, more-direct sister to the sweeter “The One” from X, for the chorus in “Aphrodite” features a fabulous list of powerful statements: “I’m fierce and I’m feeling mighty/I’m a golden girl/I’m an Aphrodite, alright.” And by the bridge: “You know that I’m magical/I am the original/I am the only one…”
Even musically, the song embraces harder-sounding beats as if pounded out by a marching band. If one listens to her KylieX2008 show, Act Two’s cheerleading theme starts with a drumbeat that sounds remarkably similar to the one in “Aphrodite.” Perhaps at that time a preview of things to come.
The Aphrodite period holds major significance in Kylie’s career, as it created another moniker still associated with her, one that catapulted her from “the Princess of Pop” to “the Goddess of Pop.” Simply put: from royalty to deity.
Disco Playlist: Thelma Houston: “Don’t Leave Me This Way”
Thelma Houston’s “Don’t Leave Me This Way” starts seductively slow through its intro and first verse, only to be offset by a powerhouse chorus. These slow and fast moments create a beautiful balance, all while showcasing Houston’s passionate vocals to convey that necessary tone of desperation. Musically, the disco era embraced violin and bass as prominent instruments, and this track features both, providing another merge of classical meets club. Yet it’s when the tambourine comes in at the outro that the song is at its fullest, a perfect companion to the drums, poppin’ bass and Houston’s commanding vocal run.
Madonna Singin’ in the Ring & “Causing a Commotion”
Check out this “fight to the finish.” Filmed in Yokohama, Japan on Madonna’s “Blond Ambition Tour” (1990), the pop star and her two backing vocalists, Donna De Lory and Niki Haris, duke it out during “Causing a Commotion.” It’s the third song in the set list and one of the best in the show, for it captures some of the elements that make this such an iconic tour:
Style with sociological substance: Jean-Paul Gaultier’s versatile designs have Madonna going from corset to athletic (hoodie) wear, specifically a colorful jacket that smartly stretches to accommodate the famous cone bra. And then the gloves go on. Gaultier and Madonna play with traditional gender roles and iconography: doll-like ponytail; a pants-suit with lingerie (as outerwear); exaggerated (bullet) bra; unhinged garters; her character almost an engineered construct of masculine prowess and Metropolis-inspired (robo) femininity, with Madonna stating, “Let’s show these people how ladies can act.”
“The moves, baby”: Choreographed punches and uppercuts, and by the end Madonna is full of “below the belt” bragging rights, after the intentionally tongue-in-cheek “grudge match” of cartoon (“Three Stooges”) proportion.
Band: The bass intro with percussion congas; Jonathan Moffett on drums (2:10 captures his impressive speed to keep the beat). With Madonna on the main card, it’s important to remember that there’s actually a solid live band (3:09).
This is just one of the many performances that confirms the Blond Ambition Tour is still a clear winner… T.K.O.
Alive and Well: Lenny Kravitz: “Rock and Roll Is Dead”
Lenny Kravitz’s 1995 song, “Rock and Roll Is Dead” is irony at its finest. After its four-count intro, the gritty sounds of electric guitar come tearing in, along with Kravitz’s opening exclamation and Cindy Blackman’s commanding drums. These elements only proved that the genre was in no way on its last legs or six feet under. The song also served, in part, as a commentary on the preoccupation of public image and other distractions (“diamond rings”; “coke spoons”; “five hundred women in your bed”) over authentic musical talent (“You can’t even sing or play an instrument so you just scream instead…”). With Kravitz, Blackman and band still performing some 20 years later, the genre is certainly far from any need of resuscitation.