Listen to Ivy's bewitching new single "Say You Will" and watch the official music video for the track too...Robert Kinsler
IVY
ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM
OUT SEPT 5TH VIA BAR/NONE RECORDS
SHARE LEAD SINGLE “SAY YOU WILL”
.jpg) Ivy have announced their first new album in 15 years. Built from the ground up using demos and song fragments dating from between 1995 to 2012, Traces of You is due out September 5 via Bar/None Records. “The world thought IVY was gone after 2012, and for a time we did too. And after Adam’s death in 2020 it seemed certain,” shares the band’s Andy Chase “So Dominique and I are thrilled to give everyone a brand new IVY album, with our beloved Adam playing on every song!” Formed in 1994, Ivy includes Andy Chase, Dominique Durand, and the late Adam Schlesinger. Sadly, Durand and Chase assumed that Ivy was in the rearview after Schlesinger tragically passed away from COVID-19 in 2020. While prepping recent reissues of their back catalog, the band unearthed a trove of reel-to-reel tapes and old hard drives stored in their Rhode Island studio. The duo knew they would only consider working on Ivy demos featuring Schlesinger, but they were overwhelmed by deciding which songs to finish. In response, they reached out to Ivy's backing keyboardist and guitarist, Bruce Driscoll, to help go through the archives and revive these lost recordings. Every song on Traces of You features contributions from Schlesinger, with the blessing of his family. The resulting music possesses the twinkling magic of Ivy’s classic work, paired with the kind of emotional wisdom gleaned from surviving life’s most challenging moments. Lead single “Say You Will,” an oceanic synth-pop song featuring drums from Joey Waronker (Beck, R.E.M.), was built from a 2009 demo where Schlesinger played bass and keyboard. WATCH OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR “SAY YOU WILL” |
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From their 1995 debut Realistic on forward, Ivy specialized in chic pop music brimming with empathy and gorgeous textures. Their six studio albums featured exquisite arrangements and influences: 1997’s Apartment Life was an indie-pop classic; 2000’s Long Distanceincorporated trip-hop and a Stereolab-esque electronic sheen; and 2005’s In the Clear was a glowing synth-pop opus. Along the way, Ivy dabbled in the film world, contributing a cover of Steely Dan’s “Only a Fool Would Say That” to the movie Me, Myself & Irene and scoring the film Shallow Hal, among others. Over the years, a new generation of artists discovered Ivy, citing them as a major inspiration and influence, recognizing the cinematic nature of Durand’s vocals, and the band’s airtight arrangements and airy dreampop sound. These include some of indie’s biggest names (Snail Mail, Beach Fossils) and emerging artists who are making huge waves in 2025 (Momma, Slow Pulp, Wishy, DJ Python). The band broke their years long silence in late 2021 to honor the passing of Adam Schlesinger, compiling home videos from studio sessions and those early tours in memory of their friend and bandmate into a moving tribute video. Over the last few years, they’ve reissued Realistic, Apartment Life, and Long Distance, including rare demos and unreleased music with each release. |
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Ivy by Michelle Shiers |
Tracklist: 01 The Midnight Hour 02 Fragile People 03 Mystery Girl 04 Traces of You 05 The Great Unknown 06 Say You Will 07 Heartbreak 08 Lose It All 09 Wasting Time 10 Hate That It’s True Understandably, recording without Schlesinger was often an emotional experience, with Durand citing “Fragile People” especially as a tune that brought her and Chase to tears in the studio. “Unintentionally, the song stirred up something really melancholy for us— in a very specific way—about Adam,” she says. She notes that Ivy didn’t want to lean on cliches about losing Adam when writing lyrics. “It's influenced by the loss of someone like him, but we did it in a way that's very subtle,” she says. “There's a ghostly feeling in the meaning of the lyrics.” Poignantly, Traces Of You ends with “Hate That It’s True.” An aching pop song about the pain of unresolved grief and the power of eternal love, it’s dominated by a melancholy Schlesinger acoustic guitar and Driscoll, Chase and Durand whispering incantations of affection. In the end, the album honors Schlesinger’s musical talents and creativity—but just as much magnifies the magic of Ivy, and the indelible chemistry and spirit that can’t be broken by space or time. “You can imagine how terrible it's been to lose Adam,” Chase says. “The only silver lining is that we could breathe life into these songs that he contributed to and it was a great experience making this record happen. It was some of the most fun I've ever had, working on music with Dominique and Bruce.” “It was also bittersweet,” he adds. “But what was nice about the bittersweetness was that I wasn't alone in feeling that way. We all did. We were like a school of fish— three little fish, missing that fourth fish, all swimming in perfect union with each other, going through both the highs and lows.” Connect with Ivy: |
