Jenny Lewis and Chicago rapper Serengeti have shared their surprise new song “Unblu,” the first track in a series of collaborations between the two artists.
“Music to dance around your living room in a Day-Glo bathing suit to,” the pair said of the track in a statement. “Music to go bananas to while watching the news and Forensic Files on mute.”
“Unblu,” co-produced by Lewis and Andrew Broder, features Serengeti’s near-spoken verses around Lewis’ piano-and-beats soundscape, with the singer also delivering the track’s hook, giving the track a dreamy Serge Gainsbourg/Brigitte Bardot vibe.
Lewis and the rapper born Dave Cohn first met in 2018 at the People Festival in Berlin; “A fast friendship was born as they skulked about, cracking jokes and chatting about their mutual love for boxing,” the duo said in a statement.
Upon returning to the U.S., Lewis threw a show for Serengeti in Nashville in October 2018, at which point the two talked about working together, “To cap the torrid evening, Dave said ‘J, I need seven tracks! Just piano or guitar or whatever!’ Jenny inquired if one would do?”
However, the collaboration happened in earnest amid the coronavirus pandemic. “Then the world shut down and Jenny and Dave hunkered down in Los Angeles and Chicago, respectively. Jenny smoked weed every day and Dave stayed totally sober,” Lewis and Serengeti said. “The result is five songs made on Jenny’s iPhone, for Dave. Beats, bass, drums, digital tanpura, and topline, sent via text, ripe for Dave’s poetry.”
For those tracks, including the Lewis-directed “Unblu,” “Jenny made videos on her phone during the witching hours, editing while under the covers.”
“Unblu” is out now digitally via Lewis’ Loves Way label. Earlier this year, Lewis appeared on Bon Iver’s “AUATC.”
From Rolling Stone US
