:: Rilo Kiley - Under The Blacklight

Rilo Kiley

The Southern Californian band creates an engrossing and lush sounding album that will endear them to their growing legion of fans. It‘s by far the most accessible Rilo Kiley record yet and could be viewed as a blessing in the need to find such an album which engages and holds your attention slickly and enjoyably throughout with no real bad songs. You can't ask for much more than that. With driving guitars and the charismatic lead singer Jenny Lewis, the band is in its prime as far as recording quality and performance capability goes. One of the highlight tracks is the recent single 'The Moneymaker’, a ferocious and rich sounding song that demonstrates the band‘s self-confidence. That's not all though. The album is teeming with creatively executed ideas. 'Under The Blacklight’ finds Rilo Kiley tossing out its old indie-rock and exploring a wide range of sounds. There is some disco thrown into ‘Breakin’ Up‘, which gets triumphant with the soulful back-up singers. 'Silver Lining’ is one of the most pleasant songs you‘ll hear all year. Handclaps and a brush drum usher in a wedding march of a guitar line, which mixes in funk with pop. Generally, the album is all about masking painful experiences with good-feel music, and at the forefront is Jenny's voice, balancing poignancy with optimism. She really can convey all the feelings possible, and in a direct way. If you've never listened to Rilo Kiley before, this is the ideal time to start. 'Under The Blacklight’ is one of the good pop albums of the year.