“Joy’All“ is the swaggering new fifth solo LP from Jenny Lewis. Written in daily instalments throughout the pandemic, it is really funny and secures her space as a contemporary troubadour of the highest order.
“I started writing some of these songs on the road, pre-pandemic… and then put them aside as the world shut down, and then from my home in Nashville in early 2021, I joined a week-long virtual song writing workshop with a handful of amazing artists, hosted by Beck. The challenge was to write one song every day for seven days, with guidelines from Beck. The guidelines would be prompts like ‘write a song with 1-4-5 chord progression,’ ‘write a song with only cliches,’ or ‘write in free form style.’ The first song I submitted to the group was ‘Puppy and a Truck.’” As the days progressed, the assignments kept coming in and Jenny ended up writing a good portion of “Joy’All”.
While “Joy’All” pulls from a bounty of sonic inspiration–from soul to 90’s R&B, as well as country and classic singer-songwriter records the album’s rich and intimate, live sound is the hallmark of eight-time Grammy winning producer Dave Cobb (John Prine, Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell), whom Jenny met by chance while visiting Lucius at the Historic RCA Studio A in Nashville. A natural kinship developed between the two, and with her arsenal of songs that she had demoed on her iPhone ready to roll, Jenny texted Dave and asked him to produce her new album.
“Joy’All” is a beacon of enlightenment that could only come from embracing life, taking the good with the bad; it’s a ten-song overture that invites the listener to find their own path to joy.
The Fat Angel Sings 