Joy'All vinyl

The pursuit of joy is paramount to life. Or at least that's the conclusion Jenny Lewis came to after investing a lot of time into a pandemic-era songwriting challenge set by her pal and collaborator Beck. Without going into details about the requirements, participants were asked to write one track per day during lockdown, and Lewis clearly dived in with gusto. At least some of the results have now formed Joy'All, a rousing and irony-free testament to the fact we can often get bogged down with distractions, but ultimately happiness is the meaning of existence. Far from a throwaway conclusion, loss and grief and sadness and sorrow are far away, thematically at least, giving an insight into how many hours Lewis spent reflecting on experiences good and bad. Owing much to classic country rock - the cover image even features the artist wearing an outfit once owned by Nashville legend Skeeter Davis - it's a welcome breath of positivity amid an otherwise worrying time.