Rilo Kiley 

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• Rilo Kiley

  I’ll be honest, this one still stings; as a huge fan of Rilo Kiley, I’m probably not going to be able to offer any kind of balanced critique as far as their split is concerned. They really were one of the unsung heroes of noughties indie rock; three tremendous records, Take Offs and Landings, The Execution of All Things and More Adventurous were followed by a Fleetwood Mac-inspired, poppy major label debut, Under the Blacklight, that really should have propelled them to a mainstream crossover - I’m honestly at a loss to explain why it didn’t. The heart of the band was the songwriting partnership between singer Jenny Lewis and guitarist Blake Sennett; both former child actors, their working relationship ultimately collapsed under the weight of the failure of its romantic counterpart. It’s a genuine shame, too, because live, they’d managed to mesh the diffuse styles of their different records remarkably well; Lewis was capable of tearing through, say, the aggressive second half of ‘A Better Son/Daughter’ before suddenly delivering a poigant acoustic number - of which they had many - immediately afterwards. Lewis has had the most success post-split, with a new solo record and UK dates lined up for later this year, but honestly, she’s most at home as the frontwoman of a rock band; my fingers will forever be crossed for a reunion.

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  by Joeg_67