Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
BBC Music	(favorable)
Chicago Sun-Times
Drowned in Sound
Entertainment Weekly	(A-)
Pitchfork Media
PopMatters	(5/10)
Robert Christgau	B+

Acid Tongue is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis, released in September 2008 (see 2008 in music) through Warner Bros. and Rough Trade Records. Inspired by jam sessions, the album was recorded in January 2008 in Van Nuys, California with the intent of capturing a more live feeling than 2006's Rabbit Fur Coat. Lewis worked with a number of guest musicians and wrote the album with boyfriend Johnathan Rice. Lewis, Rice, Jason Lader, and Dave Scher produced the album.Acid Tongue features musical styles ranging from indie rock to alternative country and Americana.

Acid Tongue was released to generally favorable reviews from contemporary music critics, receiving praise for Lewis' lyrics and vocals. However, some reviewers criticized the numerous collaborations and felt the sound overwhelmed Lewis. The album charted at number twenty-two in the United States and number fifty-five in the United Kingdom.

Lewis first began work on Acid Tongue after writing the title track on her Rabbit Fur Coat tour. She attempted to work out an arrangement for Rilo Kiley's Under the Blacklight. It didn't work, so Lewis recorded it for a second solo album.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Lewis was inspired by house parties at Jonathan Wilson's Laurel Canyon home. "We'd go to these jams in the canyon. They're fantastic. Jonathan invites older session musicians from the real Laurel Canyon era, and younger people who are just starting their bands who happen to live in the canyon, and we all get together and sing Grateful Dead covers and J. J. Cale songs." Lewis herself has said that it "rocks a little harder," in contrast to Rabbit Fur Coat's folk rock influences. Lewis also used Rilo Kiley's Under the Blacklight, which was notably polished compared to the band's earlier work, "as a reference point to go in the complete opposite direction". She explained that every song she writes is "a response to the thing that I've written before". "It's even as simple as, 'OK, I've written a ballad, now I want to push myself to write something that's up tempo.' If I'm writing about myself, well, that subject can be tiresome, so then I focus on character-driven songs. So I'm always doing this back-and-forth just to keep myself interested."

...
Wikipedia