Jenny Lewis’ Rabbit Fur Coat is her first solo album and her first release for good friend and former labelmate Conor Oberst’s label Team Love.

The frontwoman of L.A.’s Rilo Kiley, branches out with the Watson twins to create a folk / country & Southern Gospel sounding album, of easy strumming acoustic guitars and beautiful, soulful melodies. It is a wonderful interpretation of vintage country and americana folk, with the Watson Twin’s spot-on gospel harmonies adding an essential backing.

Lewis has described the album as a “sort of soul record”. It contains a cover of the Travelling Wilburys song “Handle With Care”, featuring Ben Gibbard (of Death Cab for Cutie), Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes) and M. Ward.

This album is a creeper and will repay the effort put into it by the listener.

Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (p.62) – 3.5 stars out of 5 — “Her girlishly seductive vocals are more versatile than ever; she sounds like Lucinda Williams’ clean-living little sis on the gorgeous, full-moon ballad ‘Happy’…”

Spin (p.60) – Ranked #13 in Spin’s “The 40 Best Albums of 2006″ — “[Lewis] breezes through the back pages of country soul with an easy but therapy-deep self-awareness.”

Entertainment Weekly (p.70) – “Consider Lewis the Emmylou Harris of the Silverlake set, her exquisite voice masking smart, tart lyrics…” — Grade: A-

Q (p.122) – Ranked #27 in Q Magazine’s “100 Greatest Albums of 2006″ — “[with] some wonderfully rich arrangements.”

Uncut (p.78) – 5 stars out of 5 — “[T]he album is elevated by the breathy gospel harmonies of the Watson twins, a pair of blue-eyed soul sisters from Kentucky…”

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