celebrating 20 years of "More Adventurous"
Rilo Kiley's third album strongly highlights all aspects of life.
2004 was a year of vulnerability and strong storytelling in music and Rilo Kiley was amongst the ones that shined brightly in that department. all throughout this remarkable albums lies an abundance of both heartfelt and soul crushing lyrics that are carried by strong musicality - a very apparent indication of the band being on one accord to create musical magic.
the humanity of this record always stood out to me as a listener. from the first time i heard it as a fifteen year old, i was always inspired how they could paint the most visceral picture with words. ‘Does He Love You?” portrays a situation of infidelity within a relationship and through the song’s expertly structured verses, an explosive and emotional twist is revealed that always left a lump in my throat - immediately transforming my relationship with lyrics in music in letting the story overtake me.
in “The Absence of God” the music flows wistfully and gently while Jenny Lewis sings of the existential matter of the mind and heart being freed of religious expectations. thinking of this song now as an almost thirty-six year old is completely ironic due to me getting deeper into religion a few months after the release of this release, but it is definitely a more relatable song now that part is no longer at the forefront of my life in the way that i make decisions for myself.
this album lingers in the corner of the facets of life: relation with the self, relation with love, relation within existing, and relation with death. two tracks highlight the emotional turmoil of losing revered musician and friend Elliott Smith in the year prior - “Ripchord” is a musically subdued guitar track that guitarist Blake Sennett expresses his feelings on the death that rippled through the indie music community and continues to leave a void over twenty years later. the closing track “It Just Is” depicts how loved he was and that even though it felt too soon, that it’s just the fact of when you live, you’ll die.
the absolute fullness is forever my favorite quality about this album and hasn’t changed in twenty years and in the best way possible, i don’t see it changing twenty years from now.