Jenny Lewis // The Voyager

Strip away the vocals on Jenny Lewis’s “The Voyager”, and you’d still be left with 10 shimmering—if inconspicuous—pop/rock gems. Like it or not, what really gives the album its character are Lewis’s straightforward and deeply personal lyrics. There is not a hint of irony in her voice when, shrouded in harmonies, she repeatedly employs the phrase “I could love you forever” in the chorus of a song with the same title. However, “The Voyager” isn’t wholly a dose of of syrupy sentimentality. “She’s Not Me” is a catchy lament for a lost partner’s newfound happiness. And by all accounts, Lewis, the vocalist for the now defunct Rilo Kiley, had a few rough times during the making of the album. You can hear echoes of a protracted crisis in “Just One of the Guys”, in which she confesses: “I have begged you/And I have borrowed/I’ve been the only sister to my own sorrow”. Lewis takes us through the guilt of cheating and the dissolution of a relationship all the way to the apparent formation of a new one. It’s sort of a ride.Fortunately, “The Voyager” isn’t dominated by loneliness and introspection. Like all good protagonists, Jenny Lewis finds redemption in the end, most notably with “Head Underwater”—she sings: “There’s a little bit of magic/ everybody has it/there’s a little bit of fight left in me yet”. Lewis is edging a bit close to forty for this to be labelled a “coming of age” record, it’s more of a “coming to terms” affair. Her candour is what ultimately adds depth to “The Voyager”, and saves it from the clichés that are so often synonymous with her subject matter.