15/07/2025
SPIN OF THE DAY - Chilling out on a hot day with the cool and dreamy sounds of today. The Indie Pop band, composed of Andy Chase, Adam Schlesinger and Dominique Durand, were formed in 1994, releasing their first album, REALISTIC, the following year. Their well crafted songs bounced between lighter Pop and lush, moody and atmospheric soundscapes, buoyed by the deft instrumentation of Chase and Schlesinger, and smooth vocals of Durand. I fell in love with their sound from the start. Ivy bounced between labels for their first few albums before finding the perfect home at Nettwerk, gaining more notoriety with each release, although never quite taking off with mega success. This was partly due to Schlesinger having to split time between Ivy and his other main gig in Fountains Of Wayne, with the latter often keeping him more busy, plus his becoming a more in-demand songwriter and producer for other acts. Chase also had side gigs as a producer, and with his own solo project, Brookville, as well as another band with Durand in Paco. Their ever growing outside demands, plus Andy and Dominique marrying and starting a family, saw the group deciding to go on hiatus following the release of their last album, ALL HOURS, in 2011. Plans for creating new music together were put on hold after the tragic passing of Adam in 2020.
Over the past couple of years, though, Ivy has started re-issuing their catalog on vinyl, and have plans to release their first album of new music this fall. Somehow, the news of this particular album coming back out slipped right past me last fall, and I only just found out about it and picked up a copy recently. LONG DISTANCE, originally released in 2000, was the group’s third album, and still one of their best. The songs “Undertow” and “Edge Of The Ocean” were featured in a number of TV shows, and they are only two of the brilliant tracks that make up the album. This new 2LP reissue sounds fantastic, and also features some bonus material to fill out its fourth side. Having just upgraded to a new needle and cart on my turntable, seemed like the perfect album to break them in with. Very happy to finally have it in my collection, and very much looking forward to their new album.
