One of the year's most exciting indie-rock reunions is coming with a few new releases: Rilo Kiley will reissue their sophomore album The Execution of All Things along with a new career-spanning compilation to commemorate their upcoming tour.
The acclaimed quartet - singer/keyboardist Jenny Lewis, lead guitarist Blake Sennett, bassist Pierre "Duke" de Reeder and drummer Jason Boesel - will embark on the Sometimes When You're On, You're Really F**king On tour, traversing North America in May and September. It's their first trek since splitting up more than a decade ago, after a body of work that was hailed by fans and critics during a groundswell of mid-'00s indie activity. To celebrate, they'll release 2002's The Execution of All Things on vinyl for the first time with updated artwork (a die-cut sleeve and poster) billed as the "Froken Lake Edition." The standard vinyl product will be pressed on cloudy clear vinyl, while a limited edition, capped at 3000 copies and sold directly from the Saddle Creek label will add a transparent 7" with three B-sides from the album sessions. It's due out April 25, just weeks before the tour begins. On May 9 - the day before Rilo Kiley take the stage at the Just Like Heaven Festival in Pasadena, CA - they'll follow up with That's How We Choose to Remember It, an 11-track collection drawing from their four studio albums and one early EP.
Rilo Kiley launched some of entertainment's most notable second acts not long after forming in Los Angeles in the late '90s. Lewis and Sennett, who were dating at the time, had both worked as child actors: Lewis had starred in films like Troop Beverly Hills and The Wizard, while Sennett had co-starred in teen friendly sitcoms like Salute Your Shorts and Boy Meets World. Recruiting Sennett's high school classmate de Reeder and Boesel, Rilo Kiley's first wide release was the emo-adjacent Take Offs and Landings (released a year after the band appeared on the ABC sitcom Once & Again), but really hit their stride with The Execution of All Things. Recorded in Omaha, Nebraska, Execution found the group collaborating with members of the city's most notable rock band Bright Eyes, including multi-instrumentalist Mike Mogis (who produced) and singer/songwriter Conor Oberst, who'd collaborate with most of the band members on his own sprawling body of work.
The band's profile raised over the rest of the decade: Lewis sang backing vocals on the celebrated Give Up by indie/electronic group The Post Office, and Rilo Kiley would open for Bright Eyes and Coldplay, releasing two more albums (2004's More Adventurous and 2007's Under the Blacklight ) through label deals with Warner Bros. Records. But the group had essentially parted ways by the decade's end; Sennett worked on side project The Elected with Mike Bloom (a former additional guitarist for Rilo Kiley), while Lewis embarked on an eclectic solo career.
You can pre-order both albums at the links below; as an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
The Execution of All Things (Frozen Lake Edition) (originally released as Saddle Creek LBJ-47, 2002 - reissued Saddle Creek LBJ-347, 2025)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Saddle Creek Store (with bonus 7")
- The Good That Won't Come Out
- Paint's Peeling
- The Execution of All Things
- So Long
- Capturing Moods
- A Better Son/Daughter
- Hail to Whatever You Found in the Sunlight That Surrounds You
- My Slumbering Heart
- Three Hopeful Thoughts
- With Arms Outstretched
- Spectacular Views
- Outro
Bonus 7"
- Jenny You're Barely Alive
- Emotional (Until Crickets Guide You Back)
- After Hours
Track 1 released on Saddle Creek 50 - Saddle Creek LBJ-50, 2003
Tracks 2-3 released on "The Execution of All Things" U.K. CD single - Saddle Creek SCE-56, 2003
That's How We Choose to Remember It (Saddle Creek LBJ-397, 2025)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
- Silver Lining
- Portions for Foxes
- With Arms Outstretched
- Dreamworld
- A Better Son/Daughter
- The Execution of All Things
- The Moneymaker
- I Never
- Wires and Waves
- The Frug
- Does He Love You?
Tracks 1, 4 and 7 from Under the Blacklight - Warner Bros. 189372, 2007
Tracks 2, 8 and 11 from More Adventurous - Brute/Beaute EYCD01, 2004
Tracks 3 and 5-6 from The Execution of All Things - Saddle Creek LBJ-47, 2002
Track 9 from Take-Offs and Landings - Barsuk BARK19, 2001
Track 10 from Rilo Kiley EP - self-released, 1999
So the vinyl has a bonus disc while the CD offers nothing new. What a waste!