On the Line (Jenny Lewis album)

A month prior to the album's release, Ryan Adams, who helped produce the record, was accused by several women of sexual misconduct.[4] After the album was released, Lewis told Pitchfork: "The allegations are so serious and shocking and really fucked up, and I was so sad on so many levels when I heard, I hate that he's on this album, but you can't rewrite how things went. We started the record together two years ago, and he worked on it — we were in the studio for five days. Then he pretty much bounced, and I had to finish the album by myself."[5]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	8.0/10[6]
Metacritic	85/100[7]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
The A.V. Club	B+[9]
Chicago Tribune	[10]
The Daily Telegraph	[11]
The Independent	[12]
NME	[13]
Pitchfork	8.0/10[14]
Q	[15]
Rolling Stone	[16]
Uncut	7/10[17]

On the Line was met with widespread critical acclaim.[7] The Daily Telegraph called it "a smart, swaggering break-up album from a major talent",[11] while The Independent said Lewis "adds a California sheen to melancholy and nostalgia".[12] Robert Christgau was somewhat less impressed in Vice, giving it a three-star honorable mention. He said Lewis, "the rare 21st-century singer-songwriter whose level of craft renders her good enough for 76-year-old master drummer Jim Keltner", "loses the spring in her step that made her so 21st-century by proving it", naming as highlights the title track, "Rabbit Hole", and "Dogwood".[18]

In a year-end essay for Slate, Ann Powers cited On the Line as one of her favorite albums from 2019 and proof that the format is not dead but rather undergoing a "metamorphosis". She added that concept albums had reemerged through the culturally-relevant autobiographical narratives of artists such as Lewis, who "confronted the ghost of her mother by invoking the musical touchstones they had shared in the fearless On the Line".[19]

Track listing adapted from the Google Play Store.[20]