NPR’s First Listen might be my favorite thing right now. They select three or four upcoming albums at a time and stream them in their entirety for the week leading up to their release. So far I’ve gotten to preview several of my most anticipated releases this year, always deciding that yes, this is a way I want to spend my money. One of my most anticipated albums of 2010 is the new project from Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis and her boyfriend Johnathan Rice – they’re keeping it simple and just calling the act Jenny & Johnny, but I don’t care what they call it, I just want to hear it. Jenny and Johnathan have been working together for several years, actually, touring together on each other’s records, and Johnathan is actually a pretty solid presence on Jenny’s 2008 release Acid Tongue.

So this feels like a natural progression for them, but it’s also really different sonically from most of her solo-credited work. It’s really upbeat and poppy, a very beach-friendly, sunny summer album, but with Jenny’s characteristically layered lyrics giving the songs a bit more of an edge than you at first expect (I think Johnny cowrote the lyrics, so I’m not meaning to leave him out; I just know Jenny’s style better and can see it here even more strongly, somehow, than in some of her solo work, where she was experimenting with different musical styles more than with lyrical depth). Basically if you like Best Coast‘s sound but think the songwriting is a little on the simplistic side (no disrespect, I honestly love Best Coast), then pick up I’m Having Fun Now when it comes out on August 31st. Well, you can give it a listen below first.