onsdag 22 Aug 2007, 15:59
I just got the much awaited (at least by me :) 4th album from Rilo Kiley, 'Under The Blacklight'.
Now, since I'm a big fan and I will see them live very soon, I decided to give my feelings about this CD.
I've already read some reviews, by critics and listeners, and to my surprise, they were very negative, for most anyway.
Me ? I loved this album.
Sure, it's not the old indie Rilo Kiley that I discovered and loved, but change can be nice right ?
Of course, this album is clearly an attempt to reach out to more commercial markets ; Some of the songs are produced by Mike Elizondo, which I'm really not enthusiastic about (I still remember what he did to Extraordinary Machine)
But it's still good music, more present than the previous albums and also more polished.
The lyrics, a strength of the previous albums, are still of the same quality, and the more restrained voice of Jenny Lewis only helps it. Her voice is really this band's biggest asset.
Throughout the songs, what I really appreciated was that the band didn't stick to one genre ; they experienced : see Breakin'Up, Dreamworld, and of course, Dejalo. When hearing them, you can't go and say "Hey ! I recognize it ! It's Rilo Kiley of course!"
So, while I understands what the negative critics are saying (especially the one from Pitchfork, which I found really harsh), I believe that this album is vowed to be the kind you hate or you love ; I also think that this album will clearly divide the fans.
It's an album that gets speaked about. And that is good for the band.