Rilo Kiley has finally joined forces again with their fourth full-length album, Under the Blacklight. It has been three years since the band made their widely praised More Adventurous album, released in 2004. Since then, Rilo Kiley took a break from each other with solo projects. Jenny Lewis released Rabbit Fur Coat featuring the Watson Twins in 2006, while Blake Sennett released the less successful Sun, Sun, Sun with his band, The Elected, the same year. There was speculated tension and competition between the former couple when Rilo Kiley's official website put up Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins tour dates without mentioning anything about the band or The Elected. It was becoming quite clear whom the star of this quartet was, and the fate of Rilo Kiley was up in the air.
It was not until the spring of 2007 that news finally came out that Rilo Kiley would be releasing another album when they put up its title on their website's main page. Fans eagerly waited for the album to leak, however, only two tracks ("Silver Lining" & "Dreamworld") were leaked after the release of their first single, "The Moneymaker." On August 17, 2007, four days before the official release date, the band streamed the album in its entirety on their official Myspace page. While critics praised Under the Blacklight, devoted fans reacted with muddled emotions.
As a fan of Rilo Kiley's previous albums, their new release left me with the impression that they did not care about the outcome and perhaps their only motive behind releasing it was because they signed with major label, Warner Brothers. One might argue their VH1 friendly pop sound is progression, while others might accuse them of "selling out." In the September 2007 issue of Spin magazine, featuring the band on the cover (with the inane headline "Are they the new Fleetwood Mac?"), Lewis was quoted saying, "It's about the freedom to do what I want. I can't do that in Rilo Kiley because it's a band."
Lewis' country-esque sound from Rabbit Fur Coat is present in more than a few tracks, but awkwardly throwing in pre-new wave 80's pop - think Blondie, mid-80s Fleetwood Mac, and the like. "Dreamworld" and "Dejalo" could be mistaken as cover songs from these 80's bands. "Silver Lining," "Breakin' Up," "15," and "Smoke Detector" sound like the upbeat tracks Lewis forgot to put on her solo album with their evident country style. Their first single, "The Moneymaker," is guitar-driven and provocative in it's sound, while the lyrics give a cynical and less than subtle representation of the entire album. The lyrics imply what's already implied in their music on the rest of the album; that it's intended to be pleasingly profitable to give Lewis a way out of the band, with the lines:
You've got the money maker / You've got the money maker / This is your chance to make it / Out out out oh yeah / You'll get out out out oh yeah / You've got the money maker / They showed the money to you / You showed them what you can do / Showed them your money
Under the Blacklight's straightforward lyrics give a tension filled, emotional presence for people who are familiar with Rilo Kiley's story. The album is not necessarily bad or lacking talent on the surface, but it's a disappointing demise to a once exceptional band.
Check out my pictures of Rilo Kiley in Chicago, IL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/saaaaaamantha_erin/sets/72157602141120142/
