Jeffrey Lewis - 'Em Are I

New York's renaissance slacker Jeffrey Lewis cultivates a prolific lifestyle, cramming the recording of this new album somewhere into a hectic touring, lecturing and comic-creating schedule. His last longplayer, 12 Crass Songs, a reworking of tracks by the seminal English punk band (funnily enough), allowed Lewis a different set of colours to work with. As a result, he appears to have discovered freedom in musical interpretation and applied this liberation to a set of unpredictably ramshackle tunes. His dexterous, almost improvised lyricism is strong here, despite the abashed remark "it's easier said than done/and it's not even easy to say." Heart-split renderings of his Year in Pictures mix with zombie-death musings, bluegrass escapism and abundant humorous observations. Lewis' biggest strength, however, is an ability to soak up the culture around him, and channel it through his own friendly storytelling and mannerisms, making him a profound and original voice.