After a seven-year break from his last full-length album, Jack Lewis’ Awkward Energy project returns with a full album. Drawing inspiration from Frankie Cosmos, Yo La Tengo, Kevin Morby, and Islands as well as Portland’s local music scene, Lewis offers his most ambitious album to date. The album began in 2015 when Lewis recorded with Gary Jarman (of The Cribs) at his Tartan Hell Studio in Portland, Oregon. After two days of recording, Jarman and Lewis labored over and reworked the material for two years. A fan of collaboration, Lewis gathered additional creative musical minds to add their talents to the tracks, including Zach Miller (Dr. Dog), Shelley Short (Neko Case Band), Lisa Schonberg ( Explode Into Colors, Secret Drum Band), and Dana Janssen (Akron Family/Dana Buoy).
Lewis is perhaps best known as a member of his brother’s band, Jeffrey Lewis and the Junkyard (Rough Trade Records). From 2001 to 2013 the brothers Lewis, toured the world in true DIY fashion, booking their own shows and staying on many a couch and floor. After over ten years of touring Lewis decided to to pursue a High School Social Studies teaching degree. Songs like, “Forgotten Song” (with Shelley Short sharing vocals), “You wrote a song, but forgot the words, you forgot the notes too. And now it’s just a memory, and that’s fading soon. But when you close your eyes you can see it there in front of you. And when you dream at night, you can still hear that tune,“ vividly capture the transition of one moving from their carefree and creative 20s into a more subdued and “mature” 30s.
These recordings feature Awkward Energy’s live lineup of Vinh Nguyen (percussion), Jesse liams-Hauser (guitar), and Brett Anderson (vocals/guitar); and follow Lewis’s four previous albums: Lvov Swims the Willamette (2012), Lvov Goes To Emandee (2006), Lvov Reads His Notes (2004), and Lvov’s Lament (2002).
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