IAN SWEET

SUCKER

Polyvinyl

Nov 06, 2023
Net Unique

By Michael James Corridor

Jillian Medford’s fourth outing as IAN SWEET is an adventurous pop album. It concurrently builds upon and shifts away from 2021’s Present Me How You Disappear. Whereas that album dealt truthfully and poetically with Medford’s devoted journey of restoration following a psychological well being disaster, SUCKER is a post-COVID, post-breakup document blooming with hope and self-realization.

Definitely not abandoning her guitar-driven previous, Medford’s mushy, drifting voice floats gently over shoegaze clouds similar to on the tile monitor, delivering the plaintive statement “I’d be a idiot to like you/However I did it anyway.”

It’s Medford’s talent in delivering dancefloor dynamics mixed with lyrics that swirl with remorse and trauma, which elevates the album into one thing particular. “Smoking Once more” combines fuzz guitar with minimalist beats and a triumphal refrain subverted by its chaotic lyrics: “Oh I’ve been a large number/Haven’t slept/Began smoking once more.”

“Emergency Contact” is a memorable slice of stoicism, Medford whispering “I don’t thoughts/I don’t need to get it proper this time” over a dreamlike synth and purposefully struck acoustic chords. This slower sway continues on the sweetly unhappy “Clear,” adrift on an imposing melody that switches into an insistent, offended refrain. Medford sounds positively launched by getting these issues down on vinyl and out of her system. “I’ve been operating circles round you/Gettin’ dizzy/Now I behave like a physique of water/I lay down as nonetheless as could be” runs the best couplet.

Medford’s willingness to succeed in into her most intimate moments and permit them to bloom inside the context of attractive, memorable music and melodies make SUCKER an actual expertise. As Medford herself notes on the wistful “Slowdance,” “There’s romance/Then there’s heartbreak/There’s dreamin’/Then there’s lyin’ awake,” an ideal summation of a fantastic, bittersweet document. (www.iansweetmusic.com)

Creator score: 8.5/10