Juliette Lewis - Terra Incognita

Ditching The Licks in favour of a new backing band, Hollywood actress Juliette Lewis has moved in a different direction. Goodbye straightforward garage-rock adrenaline, hello artsy introspection.

Produced by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of The Mars Volta, Terra Incognita is a diverse gathering of atmospheric guitars and sonic contrasts. While it’s a slight change of path, Lewis still draws on the influences of Patti Smith and PJ Harvey with her vocal, which ranges from soul-drenched to typically roaring.

Such is the variety here, that there are inevitably some duds, like Fantasy Bar, which aims a side-swipe at LA decadence but misses the mark. However, even the things that don’t work as well as they should, like the rambling blues of Hard Lovin’ Woman and the psychedelic yet slightly dull Female Persecution, are still preferable to anything she’s released before.

Even though her earlier work was ballsy, it felt a little one-dimensional. While Terra Incognita isn’t a brilliant album, there are some really interesting and admirable intentions which seem more representative of the off-centre output one would expect from someone as quirky as her. Clearly Juliette Lewis is keen to broaden her musical spectrum and, if nothing else, should be recognised as a musician in her own right rather than a trespassing actress. Terra Incognita is perhaps the sound of her starting to find her true voice and, though the album is flawed, it does suggest that if she continues down this route, there could be some good stuff from her in the future.