Seraphina Lotkhamnga on May 9th, 2014

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Those who were lucky enough to find themselves at the sold-out Roxy Theatre on Tuesday night got a few sneak peeks into Jenny Lewis’ new album. The singer-songwriter, known for her work in Rilo Kiley as well as her collaborations with the Watson Twins and Jonathan Rice, strategically planned the night’s set with only four never-heard-before tracks. Lewis’ decisions went over well, as fans yelled out “We missed you!” and didn’t mind hearing the hits.

Lewis’ “special magical guest” was indeed a magician, who demonstrated his folding and cutting “talents” with paper. And mere seconds after the magician revealed a sign that read “The Voyager” – the title of Lewis’ forthcoming album – the curtains rose to reveal Lewis sitting at the keyboard for opening number “Head Under Water.” The song was one of the many one-offs Lewis mixed in with the more well-known songs. In addition to the song she penned around the time she scored the film “Very Good Girls,” she also played “Just One of the Guys” – a song she often performed during her time as part of Jenny and Johnny – and “Completely Not Me,” a song she wrote with Vampire Weekend’s Rostham Bathmanglij, which appears on the “Girls Vol. 2” soundtrack.

New songs such as “Slippery Slope”(a song about “mushrooms and coke”), “The New You” and “Love U Forever” (dedicated to the crowd) easily fit in with Lewis’ diverse repertoire. With a combination of the off-kilter voice on “Acid Tongue,” the dulcet melodies on “Rabbit Fur Coat” and the pop core on Rilo Kiley’s later discography, Lewis charmed with vocals that didn’t shy away from her robust soprano range.

As she danced around in a black T-shirt that sported the image of her new album cover (her band members also wore the same T-shirts), Lewis also covered Rilo Kiley tunes such as “Silver Lining,” “Close Call,” “The Money Maker”and “A Man/Me/Then Jim.” Then she slowed it down for “Rise Up With Fists!!,” “You Are What you Love” and more from her debut solo album “Rabbit Fur Coat.” She ended her main set with a suspenseful “A Better Son/Daughter,” then brought out friends Becky Stark (Lavender Diamond, the Living Sisters) and Z Berg (The Like, JJAMZ) out during the encore for a backing chorus on the bare-bones “Acid Tongue.”

Lewis spoke only a handful of times through the night, but she made sure to thank everyone her for joining this trial run. “Thank you guys so much. New band, new vibe, new record,” she declared before going into the final and brand new song “She’s Not Me.”

||| Live: Jenny Lewis returns to southern California for a May 21 show at the Observatory.