(Warner Bros, 29/11/10)
It was ironic that I’m Having Fun Now finally arrived on British soil during the coldest November for a century. Jenny Lewis, of Rilo Kiley, and her singer-songwriter beau Johnathan Rice combine to create a summery pop record expressing the joy of their love. A hand of congratulation must be offered to Johnathan Rice, having successfully navigated a unique and unconventional course that has seen him graduate from being Lewis’s backing guitarist, to collaborator, to her lover and band mate.
The album starts in a direct and focused manner, laying down their intent to play pleasant but not overly adventurous music with the soaring Scissor Runner and the Taxman-esque staccato groove of My Pet Snakes, the latter addressing any concerns regarding romantic over indulgence in an endearingly playful manner. Yet they until the close to explode into life, with Committed sliding into near breakneck rock and roll tomfoolery ensuring an arresting finish, complete with such splendid lyrics as ‘For God for Country/ For Michael Jackson’s Monkey’.
For those more in tune with Lewis as part of Rilo Kiley, I’m Having Fun Now will no doubt prove to be an unsatisfactory stopgap, yet Rice’s interjections certainly prove a fitting foil to Lewis’ daintiness. For the rest of us this is a simple and enticing collection of songs from a couple that sound as if they are genuinely having fun. They’re young, they’re pretty, they’re talented, and they have made some delightful music; what is there not to enjoy?
