An Echo of All Things Joy

Jenny Lewis’ album Joy’All targets the crude honesty and careful sarcasm of the new generation. As stated in the title, this record serves as a beacon of joy. Though it certainly lacks in diversity of sound, Lewis is funny, honest and real in her lyricism and paints a starkly recognizable image of the complexities of daily life within a comforting bubble of optimism.

Lewis wrote this album just after the dying-down of COVID, with some songs, “Puppy and a Truck,” for example, having been released earlier. Lewis explores the visible and invisible developments the virus forced upon humanity and speaks on healing and learning. Lewis seizes her chance to write during this period, choosing to glorify the importance of positivity despite the tragedy of the moment.

Fitting with her distinct tone of honesty, Lewis doesn’t shy away from sexual content; in fact, in this album she uses it to reinforce her limitless honesty and relatable image. The song “Giddy Up” is laced with sexual imagery, accompanied by a light accompaniment steadied in a slow intimate drumbeat she explores the freedom of her sexuality. Though this song is entirely sexually charged in sound as well as content, she still uses this to discuss the daunting concept of co-dependence, which is seen further in lyrics like, “I’m not terrified, I’m not gonna cry, I’m just tripping out.”

Lewis is able to tackle the casual, even comedic, realness of sexual energy whilst also acknowledging the painful dependence that comes along with it. Lewis carefully strikes the balance between substance-less, surface-level music, and the deeper meanings. As can be said about most of this album, Lewis possesses a unique ability to look at complex situations with a distinct composure, accompanied by a careful level of comedic sarcasm and optimism.

In “Love Feel,” she relishes in the idealization of the country-music world. She lists famous country artists like “Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, John Prine, Waylon and Willie,” and pinpoints “Tennessee whiskey” and “Vette City. “ It’s undeniably a song of stereotypes, but it still serves as a constant beat of positivity despite its lighthearted content.

That is not to say Lewis doesn’t reach deeper levels lyrically. “Apples and Oranges” serves as a painful acknowledgment of difference, “Chain of Tears” acts as a final note of fear in moving on and finding love again in new chapters and “Balcony,” though disguised musically as a happy song about lockdown, is devoted to a friend of Lewis’ that ended their life during the pandemic.

Whether discussing difficult topics or reminiscing on the simplicities of the everyday, Lewis’ album resembles its title as a constant echo of Joy. Despite following the same chord structures and vocal patterns, the joyful outlook of the album is nonetheless effective.