Stepping Out with a Rabbit Fur Coat

Jenny Lewis Finds Her voice

By Valerie Pell | Illustration by C. A. Weibel, Jr.

If modesty is a virtue, then for a decade Jenny Lewis has been a devotee. Over a shaky cellular connection, this lover of the original Broadway cast recording of Annie admits, “It’s taken me 10 years of being in [Rilo Kiley] to get to the point where I finally feel comfortable singing. It’s like I’ve been trying to find out what my voice sounds like.” It’s strange to think that the beguiling frontwoman of a terribly popular indie rock band—one that tours with a huge name like Coldplay—wouldn’t know what her own voice sounds like. And yet, up until now, she didn’t. “With this record,” Lewis continues, “I finally really know how [my voice] sounds and how I want it to sound.”

What is this breakthrough record? Her newly released solo debut, Rabbit Fur Coat (Team Love Records), where she proves not only that she can sing, but that she can craft and spearhead an entire album on her own. On a temperate Friday evening in Los Angeles, Jenny Lewis reveals to Synthesis this and the other secrets of her Rabbit Fur Coat.

One would imagine that it’s daunting for an artist of a well-established band, like Rilo Kiley, to go out alone and make a record. How’d you get the guts to do it?
Blake [Sennett] did it first with The Elected record. So I thought, ah, I can do it, too. We [Rilo Kiley] know that we enjoy working together, but we also enjoy having a separate outlet for our songs. This balance makes us appreciate each other more.

Did it help that you had so many other artists contribute to the album, or was that sort of a no-brainer?
No. I constantly question myself and my worth as an artist. I think, is this worthwhile, what I’m putting out there? Do people really want to hear it? It requires your peers, your friends to say, “hey, we think you’re doing the right thing, and we want to participate.” It was flattering to have Ben [Gibbard] and Conor [Oberst] and Matt [Ward] and [Mike] Mogis be a part of this record.

Did you approach your songwriting on Rabbit Fur Coat differently than the Rilo Kiley records?
It’s more collaborative and democratic with Rilo Kiley. This time, my songs were finished, I didn’t want input or to make any changes. I recorded them quickly without much thought—sort of like an experiment.

Do you think you’ll put out another solo record?
I’d like to. It’s been fun to have a different outlet. I’ve been fortunate that in eight years I’ve written a lot of songs. I need to get them all out before I can’t write anymore.

So you believe in “block,” a sort of “songwriter’s block?”
Absolutely. I think about my friends who are in different bands: they all have a different creative process, and they all have periods where they don’t write songs. For some people that’s a day or week, but then for others it’s a year or couple years. It’s definitely the underlying fear of the writer in general, that maybe you won’t be able to write anymore—whether it’s due to laziness, or being complacent, or fear of what people will think. It’s a scary thing. But I try not to get too crazy. I just write songs, some of which aren’t that good, but I keep plugging away.

The lyrics of Rabbit Fur Coat really draw the listener into a bleak world populated by hypocrites, gamblers, drug addicts and a God who is selective with his forgiveness. yet the music is extremely soulful and charged with an optimistic sound that counteracts the abjection. Was this a conscious juxtaposition or did it grow organically out of each song?
I just can’t help myself! No matter how dark the sentiment is, I tend to make it like a cupcake. It’s the two sides of my personality that are constantly battling each other. Sometimes I write something so dark it’s unbearable, but then it makes me have to go back and revise, inserting moments of light throughout the song.

It’s interesting that you use the word “revision,” which is a term normally associated with the written word and not necessarily music. Do you as a songwriter revise a lot?
Yeah. Especially if you’re talking about the lyrics. Not very often do I come up with a complete story right away. I’m constantly walking around town thinking about the characters and where they’ll end up. It’s a process that evolves according to what I’m interested in and obsessed with at the time. Sometimes abstract ideas and images are interesting, but now I’m in a storytelling phase.

Your lyrics tend to be dark while your music is pretty upbeat. Have you ever switched those angles?
I’m sure I have, or we have, but not usually. We write songs that are poppier and then sneak in the dark attack. I think the reverse is more difficult and less palatable.

What does the object of the rabbit fur coat symbolize?
The metaphor of the coat reappears throughout the record. It takes on different feelings when you consider the different characters involved. It could mean success, money, failure, the need to be recognized in some way. For other characters, it could mean coming from the other side of the tracks and looking to the wealthy for some sort of approval you’re never going to get.

Where did the metaphor come from?
It comes from a family story I heard growing up. It had been a long time since I thought about it, then it just sort of re-appeared. This was actually the first song I wrote for this record—not that when I wrote it, it was for this record. But it was the first of the collection that would follow.

Are you planning a tour for Rabbit Fur Coat?
I am. I’m really excited to put together a band.

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Record Label Team Love Records Released January 2006

Tracks Run Devil Run The Big Guns Rise Up With Fists!!! Happy The Charging Sky Melt Your Heart You Are What You Love Rabbit Fur Coat Handle With Care Born Secular It Wasn't Me Happy (Reprise)