photo credit: Ariel Fish

IAN SWEET is the quirky name of Los Angeles-based artist Jillian Medford’s musical project, and she’s just dropped new synthpop-tinged single “f*ckthat” via Polyvinyl, along with a music video to support it. 

The track (produced by Canadian duo deadmen) begins with delicate plinking piano and underwater wordless swoons, before Medford’s lead vocal—sometimes weightlessly breathy, sometimes pleasingly piercing and assertive—enters alongside taut drums, bass, and spacey synths. Medford’s lyrics focus on the exasperation the narrator feels for a relationship that feels one-sided, lacking the reciprocation of affection and emotional investment that the narrator themself has put in. 

“We’ve been on the phone all night long / I’m singin’ you the words to your favorite song / You wouldn’t do the same for me / If I called you up at 3 / You’d probably see my number and just let it ring”

The song’s mildly profane title arrives right at the explosion of the chorus, fittingly evoking the narrator’s frustration and venting in the way that only a person who has a sense of self-worth can. Why put up with a love that doesn’t love you back, or bother to follow through on the little things that, in the end, mean so much between two people? It’s a deep topic for such a seemingly effortless pop confection, but it’s pulled off with finesse, and shows that IAN SWEET is a name to remember. 

The IAN SWEET-directed video, meanwhile, finds the artist in a semi-psychedelic call center, complete with boring powder-blue landline phone, shocking pink hair, and a computer monitor that goes wacky with the kind of spiral video feedback that 80s kids remember from pointing their parents’ camcorder at a TV screen. Kudos has to be given for making the most of the little gear and location the crew had. The video never feels repetitive, as the rapid but not distracting editing keeps things visually interesting, and Medford’s indie style and charisma keeps things compelling. 

IAN SWEET takes to the road in the spring on next year in support of her new album, Show Me How You Disappear, with tickets going on sale Friday Oct. 10th. Gabe Hernandez

There's nothing worse than ruminating on what you've done wrong. Those unproductive thoughts persist throughout IAN SWEET's latest single, "Hiding," a mental exercise which songwriter Jilian Medford puts into elegant practice on the track's artful music video. Medford constantly repeats "I forgot myself in you, you, you," which may imply that she's referring to somebody else. But Medford is having a battle with herself, where she tries to figure out where or not it's okay to accept things even if they're not necessarily to her liking. And come to think of it, if Medford's way of channeling this thought is through a scorching artillery of swift percussion and heavily-punctuated guitars, then that makes the self-retreat more than worth it.

"Hiding" is the first single off of IAN SWEET's forthcoming LP, Crush Crusher, which comes out on October 26 via Hardly Art. You can also catch Medford perform at the Lodge Room in Highland Park on October 18.

Oy, nu-music lurvers!

The new issue of The Deli NYC is available for online reading here!

On the cover, fabulous math-dream-indie-rockers Ian Sweet (who are headed on tour with Frankie Cosmos!). Check out the video of our favorite single "#23" streaming below.

Oh and hey! It's a Brooklyn Stompbox Exhibit issue! If you love guitar pedals you don't want to miss it, it's chock full of them, including an interview with pedal guru Mike Matthews of NYC's Electro_Harmonix!

The print version of it will hit the streets of NYC on September 1st!

The Folks at The Deli NYC

"Shapeshifter" is a very appropriate name for IAN SWEET's debut LP, as it represents a change in the lineup of what comprised singer Jillian Medford's bedroom pop solo poroject. Now accompanied by a bassist and a drummer in the studio and on the road, Jillian forges tracks that resonate very differently, though her crackly vocals remain the stars of the show. "Most of the songs on Shapeshifter don’t settle in a particular scene so much as they delve into a sensibility," reads the album's description on Bandcamp. Another delicious surprise is realizing that most of the tunes on the record were inspired by inanimate objects. IAN SWEET is sticking to the Midwest for the summer, but while we wait for the return of Medford's Crocs in the big city, let's take to heart the meaning behind the album, that there is "no one absolute; just the ease that comes with knowing everything will be OK as long as you hold tight to the pocket-sized things in life that bring happiness while you watch the rest of your world fall apart in slow-motion." - Valentina Rocha

Trio Ian Sweet, the brainchild of Los Angelinos guitarist Jilian Medford, relocated from Boston to Brooklyn in 2016. The city has been kind to them: the group has gathered a fair amount of interest since the move, after which they released two records in quick succession (their early releases, a lot more experimental, date back as far as 2013). While the earlier of the two (a self titled mini-LP) sounds like a transitional album, 'Shapeshifter' delivers a sound that's edgy, fun and mature - within the perimeters of the DIY aesthetics, which despise maturity. It's a mix of math rock, indie pop and psychedelia that marries the cerebral and the imaginative in surprising ways. Jilian's voice, always distorted in a blurry way, conveys a violent brightness to the tracks, and is at times reminiscent of early Bjork. Breakout single #23 (streaming bewlow) is the perfect exemplification of the band's disciplinately unruly pop expressionism. The record is a constant surprise, full of incredibly vibrant sounds, often drenched with rare passion ('2soft2chew') but also prone to playfulness ('All Skaters Go To Heaven'). The feeling we get is that 'Shapeshifter' is a sonic portrait of a band in the perfect musical sweet spot (like the Pixies on 'Surfer Rosa'), that confidently balances a youthful imagination with quality songwriting, and a sound that's daring without being over-produced. 

Ian Sweet will soon be going on tour that will take them to Austin for SXSW and then to the West Coast.

We added this song to The Deli's playlist of Best songs by emerging NYC artists - check it out!