Traces of You＜限定盤/Natural Vinyl＞

TAHITI 80のプロデューサーとして知られるANDY CHASEと、FOUNTAINS OF WAYNEのADAM SCHLESINGER、そしてデビューするまで素人だったパリジェンヌDOMINIQUE DURANDからなるトリオ、IVYがまさかのニューアルバム『TRACES OF YOU』をリリース。

2020年にSCHLESINGERが突然この世を去った後に、ロードアイランドの倉庫から発見された大量の未完成デモを発掘。ANDY CHASE とDOMINIQUE DURANDは大量のテープを聴き直し、そのデモを元に長年交流のあるBRUCE DRISCOLL (FREEDOM FRY)と共にレコーディングした作品。今は亡きADAMのレコーディング・パートを含めたオリジナル・メンバーに加え、FOUNTAINS OF WAYNEのJODY PORTERとBRIAN YOUNG、ERIC MATTHEWS (CARDINAL)、JOEY WARONKER (WALT MINK, BECK) らが参加しています。

Ivy spent years carving out a path not quite like any other band, crafting spotless sophisticated pop in the mid-90s when a lot of the world was reveling in the dirtier side of alternative rock, and shifting gears to include the influence of trip-hop, French pop, and space-age electronica as they moved forward. The groups 2011 album All Hours came after a gradual slow down in activity and was the last record they released before the 2020 death of founding member Adam Schlesinger. A new Ivy album would have seemed somewhere between unlikely and impossible even before Schlesingers passing, but Traces of You defies expectations and likelihood with a set of new songs that are crisp and engaging on the level of all of their other work. The inspiration for Traces of You began when Ivy members Dominique Durand and Andy Chase were combing through a storage locker of old recordings on multiple formats and kept finding unfinished demos that felt too promising to leave in the archive. With recordings made between 1995 and 2012, the remaining Ivy members set the strict parameters that theyd only work on tunes that included Schlesinger, and enlisted the help of collaborator Bruce Driscoll to help complete the songs. Right from the start, Traces of You bears all the hallmarks of Ivys pristine pop sound. Opening cut “Midnight Hour” brings together melodic electric bass leads and tight vocal harmonies with controlled blasts of distorted drum breaks, all culminating in a perfectly architected song that breezes by in three minutes exactly and requires multiple listens to unpack all the details. “Mystery Girl” is built from a blueprint of dreamy ‘60s pop with boomy live drums, chiming bell tones, and a haunted flute line backing up the vocals in the chorus. Because it’s pieced together from recordings that span some of Ivy’s most active years, the songs on Traces of You recall various phases. The bounding “Heartbreak” is uplifting power pop, with a horn section that tips the hat to the bands ongoing obsession with Glasgow indie legends Orange Juice. “Wasting Time” is atmospheric, orchestral dream pop with a powerful electronic rhythm component, and the streamlined arrangement and lovestruck vocal melodies of “Say You Will” sound cut from the same cloth as the band’s 1997 sophomore album Apartment Life. Schlesinger’s presence is strong throughout the album, and the closing track “Hate That It’s True” is a loving, if bittersweet exploration of the grief of his memory. Though stitched together from a small lifetime of forgotten inspirations and half-finished ideas, Traces of You is as complete a statement as anything Ivy made before. The care and intention behind assembling a fitting tribute to their departed bandmate make this set of songs stand out as more than just another album. Traces of You floats on deep emotional undercurrents, and even its brightest moments of pop bliss carry the distinctive ache of loss. ~ Fred Thomas