Jenny Lewis– her band was Rilo Kiley. She’s been working for at least 25 years. Now she finally has a hit. What took so long? “Psychos” has landed at number 1 on Billboard’s Alternate Music chart. It should be a breakthrough hit. I have no idea what label it’s on, or if anyone’s promoting it. But when you hear “Psychos” (below) you know it’s a hit. Before there was Billie Eilish or Lana Del Rey or a lot of today’s stars, there was Jenny Lewis. Elvis Costello touted her for a long time. And time passed. There’s an album called “Joy Y’All” with lots of cool country-tinged Americana kind of songs. Along with Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers,” Jenny’s “Psychos” is an actual song. Maybe this was the year of songs…
And then there’s Dominic Fike. Signed for $4 million to Sony by Ron Perry in 2018, he put out one so so album in 2020. In 2022 he joined “Euphoria” as an actor. Now he says he was high the whole time he shot it. Doesn’t make him a bad person.
Turns out on July 7th Sony released Fike’s second album, called “Sunburn.” It might be the album of the summer. I can’t stop listening to it. Perry found a setting for Fike’s unique songs and voice– he really sings, guys. The songs are quirky, melodic, funny, sincere, kind of deep. Weezer is on one track, and you can hear Beck and Todd Rundgren influences. This time, Fike is surrounded by top producers and co-writers, small committees, but it all works. Lightning strikes. Funny thing is, Sony sent no press release or info. I just found this album on Spotify. Surprise! Luminate says it’s sold 48,000 copies so far. It should be a bigger hit. “Mona Lisa” is on the “Spider Man: Across the Spider Verse” soundtrack. But there are lots of other great tracks. Dominic Fike could be a star now. He should tell someone.
