Jeffrey Lewis‘s hyper-literate speak-songs have always been as obsessed with music history and hagiography and the ways both intersect in New York City. Now that he has twenty-five or so albums under his belt, Lewis is creating his own New York moment. “Back to Manhattan,” from his new record Manhattan, finds Lewis slowing down, calmly surveying his city as he and his girlfriend cross the Williamsburg Bridge on the precipice of a breakup—”We walked on together/We walked off alone,” he sings. The nearly nine-minute video is shot in kaleidoscopic double, providing an anxious and nauseating view that matches the song’s weary organ and Lewis’s monotone.
Manhattan track list
1. Scowling Crackhead Ian
2. Thunderstorm
3. Sad Screaming Old Man
4. Back To Manhattan
5. Avenue A, Shanghai, Hollywood
6. Outta Town
7. It Only Takes a Moment
8. Support Tours
9. Have a Baby
10. Atheist Mantis
11. The Pigeon
Manhattan is out October 30 on Rough Trade.
