Artists Of The Year

CMU Albums Of The Year 2009: Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard – Em Are I

By | Published on Thursday 10 December 2009

As we head towards the end of the year, we’ll be revealing, in no particular order, our ten favourite albums of 2009. Today, Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard – ‘Em Are I ‘.

The first of Jeffrey Lewis’ five studio albums to have backing band The Junkyard’s name stamped right up next to his on the album cover, the subject matter of ‘Em Are I’ is largely shaped by Lewis’ break-up with his girlfriend and keyboard player, over several months of touring together. It wasn’t the cleanest of splits, by all accounts, and Lewis paints himself (or, rather, draws – the whole episode is chronicled in a comic strip for The New York Times, ‘My 2008 In A Nutshell’) as a broken character, unable to concentrate on the recording.

All of which doesn’t bode well for the finished product. And yet, here we are, talking in terms of albums of the year. Lewis’ lyrics are as good as ever (“Just tell me that you like me in the same sentence as a mountainside, cos it would be such a relief to be objectified”, for example), but the overshadowing gloom reduces the sometimes throwaway edge of his humour, without losing it altogether, making this album stand up far better to repeat listens than some of his earlier work.

Actually, there are only two overt break-up songs on the album, one being ‘Broken Broken Broken Heart’, in which Lewis blames himself for the fact that his ex is now with “a less cruel and curious man”, while the other, the rolling psychedelia of ‘The Upside-Down Cross’, is actually penned by his brother Jack.

Not just an album of the year, this is also easily Lewis’ best and most accessible work to date.

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