Like a breath of expensive air whispering in your ear American popsters Ivy’s 2011 album appeared in my library after I was eventually able to locate some of the bands work through the wonders of Apple Music.
See bands with un-googleable names like John Smith, Fridge, Albatross or Jam Roly Poly will only end up not reaching fans who live outside their popular frame. When I search Ivy on google, because it thinks I’m not interested in mostly unknown in the UK American artists, so instead I get pictures of the plant or reddit posts about a character from Batman or manga or somesuch rubbish. Such is the algorithm.
But then, with Apple Music, because it can see you have some of their other works, it goes “Here! Here are some other albums by the band. Maybe you might like to listen to them?” and I get happy. And I listen. And the whispering begins.
Of course, the band being virtually unknown in the UK means that I was unaware they had been on a hiatus since In The Clear , returning with this album. I was also unaware about the turbulence within the band that resulted in this being the last album for the band with this line up.
From it’s formation in 1994 when Andy Chase and Adam Schlesinger met singer Dominique Durand, to the first album release Realistic in 1995 with Apartment Life following in 1997. The band developed a very distinctive sound – a rich blend of husky French accents and dream-pop beats that brought the band right through to the glorious Long Distance (2000) and Guestroom (2002) years. By In the Clear (2005) they had begun to reach new shores, of course, this is when I found them and added them to my library but internal stresses and strains, the desire to develop side projects and a lack of promotion overseas meant they would fail to reach their potential audiences.
Their return in 2011 with All Hours was meant to be the cure for this malaise. The band really put their soul into the new songs, bringing the influences grown from their time apart into a beautiful blend of sound with catchy lyrics and, as I said, that distinctive feeling that something very expensive had whispered sexy things next to your ears. ASMR. But better.
Sadly the band split as conflicts grew under stress – Schlesinger and Chase’s studios were under financial pressure, the tour to promote the album didnt happen and basically Durand was left piggy in the middle trying to mediate. However, they did reconcile their differences and by February 2020, they where already back in discussions about making another album – until COVID19 claimed Schlesinger. Their most recent album Traces of You (2025) a clear tribute to the guy.
Fascinated by Ivy
Sources:
Available on
- Apple Music
- Amazon
- and probably Spottybotty if you want it badly enough
Tess Don’t Tell was the first song I ever heard from this, Ivy’s fifth studio album. I forget where it was but suspect that it was on a random “Music you might like” playlist from the earlier days of Last.FM before it was bought by Spotify and ruined. Of course having a band name like Ivy meant having to use hardcore advanced Googlefu so that Ivy, the American band, came up in searches instead of what other monstrosities came up instead.
Like most teenagers, I was fortunate enough to be Bez to my old school friend, Mike’s band Jean Pierre O Malley & the Gieger-Muller Tubes. I attended most practice sessions (mostly on the promise of a few pints of beer afterwards) and I accepted that they would do cover versions of songs I didn’t really know.
Stegzy's Music Project 