Long Distance | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 8, 2000 | |||
Recorded | 1999–2000 | |||
Studio | Stratosphere Sound; Sony Music (New York, NY) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 56:08 | |||
Label | Nettwerk | |||
Producer |
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Ivy chronology | ||||
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Singles from Long Distance | ||||
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Long Distance is the third studio album by the American band Ivy. It was released on November 8, 2000, in Japan, while the US version was released on July 10, 2001, by Nettwerk. A departure from Ivy's previous studio albums Realistic (1995) and Apartment Life (1997), Long Distance was influenced by new wave, but maintained Ivy's signature blend of indie pop and indie rock music. Ivy collaborated with long-time producer Peter Nashel for two of the album's tracks, while the rest were written and produced entirely by members Andy Chase and Adam Schlesinger.
Long Distance received positive reviews upon its release. Many critics favored Ivy's new approach, although some found it less interesting compared to the material on Apartment Life. Three singles were released from the album. "Lucy Doesn't Love You" and "Disappointed" were both commercially unsuccessful, while the album's third single, "Edge of the Ocean", appeared in numerous films and television programs and has since been considered the band's signature song. The songs "Undertow" and "Worry About You" were also used in media; the latter track was used as the theme song for the ABC miniseries Kingdom Hospital . Promotional music videos were created for both "Lucy Doesn't Love You" and "Edge of the Ocean".
Shortly after the release of Apartment Life (1997), Ivy began work on a new studio album; however, the band was dropped by their label, Epic Records, shortly after the reissue of Apartment Life was released. After the end of their contract with Epic, and lead singer Dominique Durand's pregnancy, the New York City studio where Ivy regularly recorded music burned down. [1] In order to forget about these events, Ivy resumed recording sessions, and began incorporating influences from new wave. Member Adam Schlesinger detailed the album's exploration of different genres: "The first songs [we] recorded were jangly and simple and straight-ahead. We started gravitating toward the groovier, slightly more melancholy stuff. It works well with Dominique's voice." [2]
According to Schlesinger, Ivy then signed with Nettwerk because "their roster was similar to Ivy across the board". After being released prematurely in Japan on November 8, 2000, the album was a quick success. Nettwerk's head of marketing, Marie Scheibert, stated that Long Distance became one of Amazon.com's top imports. [1] The album was released in the United States on July 10, 2001, eight months later. During recording sessions, Durand, Schlesinger and fellow band member Andy Chase decided "to go one hundred percent" on one of the tracks, which would later become "Edge of the Ocean". [3] Ivy stated that the song, which would later be released as the album's third single, was created in hopes that it would "mean the difference between making our next album or not". [4] Along with "Edge of the Ocean", the trio started writing songs that were "less atmospheric" than those on Apartment Life, but contained more "infectious melodies", which the band preferred. [5]
Long Distance opens with "Undertow", a track featuring "pastoral tones" layered with "a lifting guitar frame"; Tom Topkoff of Hybrid Magazine noted that Durand's vocals have "aged like a fine wine". [6] The single "Disappointed", the "fast-paced" second track, consists of a "taut rhythm and slinky guitars" that "provide a sleekly sexy backdrop for Durand's wistful vocals". [7] Its sound was compared to Ivy's previous tracks on Realistic (1995) and Apartment Life (1997), particularly the songs "No Guarantee" and "I Get the Message". [6] The next song, "Edge of the Ocean", is an indie pop and trip hop song, [1] [8] and has been called a "captivating and escapist tune". [6] Since its release, it has been commonly referred to as one of Ivy's signature songs, including by Ivy themselves. [9] "Blame It on Yourself" is a "memorable" track, with instrumentation provided by distorted guitars. [7] The fifth track, "While We're in Love", is a trip hop-inspired track, with the singer and her partner realizing, "We know it won't last forever / Because we're not meant to be together". [7] "While We're in Love" uses keyboards that add a groovy feeling to "fill out the sound more than ever before". [6]
The album's lead single, "Lucy Doesn't Love You", uses 1960s-style horns with "jangly guitars" to reintroduce Ivy's signature indie pop style into the album. [6] It has a "sassy brass and lifting melody," [10] accompanied by electric guitars to create an "atmospheric" mood. [1] According to Tom Topkoff of Hybrid Magazine, "Worry About You" is Ivy's "furthest departure from their tried and true practice". [6] The composition is relatively ambient, with "Portishead styled ethereal-dub characteristics". "Let's Stay Inside", the album's eighth song, uses keyboard and acoustic guitar instrumentation to provide a "comforting" feeling; "bossa nova-tinged", it results in an "intimate approach". [7] "Midnight Sun" and "I Think of You" both use violins and organs to achieve a sense of effortlessness. The violins are headed by Ivy's longtime partner James Iha. [11]
The next track, "Hideaway", is another "escapist tune", featuring "Durand's sensually emotive vocals". [6] The album's 12th track, "One More Last Kiss", contains longing lyrics discussing Durand's final moments with a lover. Its composition consists of guitar passages similar to the majority of those on the album. [12] A cover of The Blow Monkeys' "Digging Your Scene" concludes the standard edition of the album, with its production sounding "natural", as if it was an original Ivy track. [6]
While Ivy did not heavily promote the album through live appearances, several tracks from Long Distance were featured in various television series and films. "Edge of the Ocean" was used in the movies Angel Eyes , Music and Lyrics and Shallow Hal , [13] [14] and the television series Grey's Anatomy and Veronica Mars . [15] [16] "Worry About You" served as the theme song for the ABC drama series Kingdom Hospital , [17] and was featured on the CBS sci-fi series The 4400 , and its soundtrack. [18] "Lucy Doesn't Love You" was played in the similarly titled 2002 film I'm with Lucy , [19] while "One More Last Kiss" was in the 2002 movie Insomnia . [20]
"Digging Your Scene" was released as a radio single and sent to modern rock radio stations in June 2001. [1] In 2002, the single received a proper release to promote Ivy's fourth studio album, Guestroom . [13] Ivy visited various record stores throughout the US and Japan to promote the album, including at Sam Goody locations and in the West Village in New York City. Ivy's touring schedule coincided with the re-released version of Apartment Life, on September 18, 2001. [1]
Ivy released four singles from Long Distance. In late 2000, "Lucy Doesn't Love You" was released as the album's lead single. Two CD singles were issued in Japan, the first contained B-side track "Blame It on Yourself", [21] while the second additionally contained "Digging Your Scene". [22] The track received favorable reviews from critics, [23] and a music video was filmed in 2000 to promote the song. [24] The album's second single, "Disappointed", was released as a radio single on July 10, 2001. [1] Similarly, the track received positive feedback, and was promoted by a live performance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 2001. [25]
Third single "Edge of the Ocean" was also released on July 10, 2001, in the US. Compared to their previous work, the single was both a critical and commercial success, appearing in several television series and films, and peaking at No. 160 on the UK Singles Chart. [26] Its accompanying music video became Ivy's most-watched clip on the video-sharing website YouTube. [27]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 68/100 [28] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [7] |
Billboard | (Favorable) [29] |
Blender | [30] |
City Pages | (Mixed) [31] |
Exclaim! | (Favorable) [32] |
Launch.com | [28] |
PopMatters | [12] |
Resonance | [33] |
Rolling Stone | [34] |
Long Distance received positive reviews upon release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 68, based on nine reviews. [28] Jonathan Cohen of Billboard commented that "Durand's sensual vocals are beguiling as ever" and favored singles "Disappointed" and "Edge of the Ocean". [1] A critic from Resonance magazine praised the album for "stay[ing] true to the belief that guitar pop can have cool, utopian sounds without bringing in a truckload of keyboards and sequencers". [35] A Launch.com reviewer stated that "no one else stateside is currently making pop quite this lush and lovely," but disapproved of the track "Undertow" for being "short of perfection". [36] One of E! Online's music critics declared "Lucy Doesn't Love You" a summer anthem and predicted that Long Distance would increase Ivy's popularity. [23]
Critics from both Rolling Stone and Blender made strong comparisons between Long Distance and the English musical duo Everything but the Girl. The former stated that "any fan of Everything but the Girl, Saint Etienne or vintage Blondie should find plenty to swoon over", [34] while the latter called the sound "cloudy and distant, [but it] takes tentative steps toward Everything but the Girl". [30] In a more mixed review, a critic from SonicNet stated that "Ivy specialize[s] in nebulously oriented dream-pop: too ethereal for straight pop fans, too structured for the 4AD crowd." [37] In a divided review, Michaelangelo Matos of City Pages noted that he preferred Ivy's previous releases, but stated, "If your band had spent four years getting dropped and picked up and dropped again by record labels, you'd sound tired too." [31] Similarly, a reviewer from Alternative Press was negative, expressing that "the 13 tracks here are improbably edgeless, all love-me-do/love-me-don't plaints that evaporate on impact". [38]
All tracks written by Ivy except "Digging Your Scene", written by Dr. Robert. [11]
No. | Title | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Undertow" | 4:20 | |
2. | "Disappointed" |
| 4:24 |
3. | "Edge of the Ocean" |
| 4:25 |
4. | "Blame It on Yourself" |
| 4:05 |
5. | "While We're in Love" |
| 4:36 |
6. | "Lucy Doesn't Love You" |
| 3:57 |
7. | "Worry About You" |
| 3:59 |
8. | "Let's Stay Inside" |
| 4:20 |
9. | "Midnight Sun" |
| 5:27 |
10. | "I Think of You" |
| 4:00 |
11. | "Hideaway" |
| 4:09 |
12. | "One More Last Kiss" |
| 4:51 |
13. | "Digging Your Scene" |
| 3:40 |
Total length: | 56:08 |
No. | Title | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
14. | "It's All in Your Mind" |
| 2:22 |
Total length: | 58:30 |
No. | Title | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
14. | "All I Ever Wanted" | Lloyd Cole | 2:28 |
15. | "Edge of the Ocean" (Duotone remix) | Nashel | 4:35 |
16. | "Edge of the Ocean" (Original demo) | Nashel | 3:48 |
Total length: | 66:59 |
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. [41]
Ivy
Additional musicians
| Technical
Design
|
Region | Date | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Japan | November 8, 2000 | EastWest Japan | [41] [42] |
United States | July 10, 2001 | Nettwerk America | [7] |
South Africa | Bittersweet | [13] | |
Spain | |||
Europe | Nettwerk |
Ivy was an American indie pop band composed of Andy Chase, Adam Schlesinger, and Dominique Durand. They were active between 1994 and 2012.
Apartment Life is the second studio album by American band Ivy, released by Atlantic Records on October 6, 1997. After being dropped from Seed Records following the release of Realistic in 1995, the group signed to Atlantic due to connections that Adam Schlesinger had with the record label. In addition to band members Andy Chase and Schlesinger, the album was produced by Lloyd Cole and Peter Nashel. In contrast to their previous releases, such as Lately (1994) and Realistic, Apartment Life is a pop album with varying forms of production consisting of keyboards, brass, and string instruments. Some of the compositions featured on the record were compared to the works of My Bloody Valentine, Pixies, and the Smiths. To promote the album, Ivy embarked on a series of promotional tours across the United States.
In the Clear is the fifth studio album by American band Ivy. It was released on March 1, 2005 in the United States by Nettwerk. Considered the "follow-up" to Ivy's third studio album Long Distance (2000), it continues the intimate and refined approach of modern indie pop and indie rock music. Band members Andy Chase and Adam Schlesinger produced the album, while musician Steve Osborne co-produced one of the album's tracks.
All Hours is the sixth and final studio album by American band Ivy, released by Nettwerk on September 20, 2011. Following 2005's In the Clear, the members took a hiatus from music, allowing Andy Chase and Adam Schlesinger to work on side projects and Dominique Durand and Chase to begin raising a family. After reuniting in 2008, they started work on a project exploring a new sound following concerns that their songs would become obsolete and unimaginative due to their break. All Hours features 11 songs written and produced by Chase and Schlesinger; they take influence from electropop, indie pop and synth-pop music. Unlike their previous albums, All Hours experiments more with electronic music and contains tracks reminiscent of the music from the 1980s.
"Edge of the Ocean" is a song by the American band Ivy for their third studio album, Long Distance (2000). Lead singer Dominique Durand wrote the song with band members Adam Schlesinger and Andy Chase, who both produced it. It was released as the album's lead single in the United States in June 2001, through Nettwerk. Various physical singles were distributed throughout the following year, in addition to an adult alternative airplay release in the US. The song is an electronic-inspired trip hop pop ballad with minimal and simplistic lyrics. Durand's vocals were described as childlike and compared to those of Karen Carpenter. American musician Michael Hampton, a member of Durand and Chase's other band Paco, contributes to the track's instrumentation.
"Lucy Doesn't Love You" is a song by American band Ivy for their third studio album, Long Distance (2000). Lead singer Dominique Durand wrote the song with band members Adam Schlesinger and Andy Chase, who both produced it. In 2000, it was chosen as the album's lead single in Japan and distributed via Chase's Unfiltered Records label. Musically, the song was described as a melodic, horn-led trip hop and synth-pop track. Its lyrics find a woman confronting a lovestruck man who desires a different woman, named Lucy, who is not in love with him. American musician Eric Matthews performs trumpet on "Lucy Doesn't Love You", alongside Paco member Michael Hampton, who contributes to the song's instrumentation.
"Disappointed" is a song by American indie rock band Ivy. It was released as the second single from their third studio album, Long Distance (2000). It was released exclusively in the United States on July 10, 2001 by Nettwerk. The release was simultaneous with the release of '"Edge of the Ocean". The track was written by Dominique Durand, Adam Schlesinger and Andy Chase, while production was handled by the latter two and Peter Nashel.
"This Is the Day" is a song by American band Ivy, included on their second studio album, Apartment Life (1997). It was released as the record's third single in the United States on October 19, 1998 by 550 Music following its inclusion in the 1998 American comedy film There's Something About Mary. The group had just been dropped by Atlantic Records but eventually signed to 550 Music after they reissued the parent album. The track was written by Dominique Durand, Adam Schlesinger and Andy Chase, with the latter two producing it. It is a pop and alternative pop song that features the use of horns and was compared to the works of the Smiths.
"I've Got a Feeling" is a song by American band Ivy, recorded for their second studio album, Apartment Life (1997). It was released as the record's second single in the United States and Australia on October 7, 1997 and 1998 by Atlantic Records, respectively. The track was written by Dominique Durand, Adam Schlesinger and Andy Chase, with the latter two plus Lloyd Cole and Peter Nashel handling its production. It is a pop song accompanied by light vocals and a horn section, with Durand gently singing about falling in love, over several layers of guitars and relaxed harmonies.
Guestroom is the fourth studio album by the band Ivy. It was released on September 10, 2002 by Minty Fresh and Unfiltered Records. Unlike the group's previous albums, the album consisted entirely of cover songs, without any new material. Some of the songs featured on the album were previously released as B-sides to the band's singles.
"You Don't Know Anything" is a song by American indie rock band Ivy. It was released by Atlantic Records on April 29, 1999 as the fourth and final single from their second studio album, Apartment Life (1997). The single was made available exclusively in Europe and featured the same two B-sides as previous single, "This Is the Day", which had been released by 550 Music in Austria. The track was written by Dominique Durand, Adam Schlesinger and Andy Chase while production was handled by the latter two and Peter Nashel.
"Get Enough" is the debut single by American band Ivy, released in 1994 by Seed Records. It was included as the opening track for their first studio album, Realistic (1995). It was composed by band members Dominique Durand, Adam Schlesinger and Andy Chase, and produced by the latter two and Kurt Ralske. The song was conceived while the band was creating material for their first extended play, Lately (1994), a project that Durand was initially reluctant to work on. Its production, along with the rest of Realistic, was inspired by French musicians and exhibits a folk rock and pop sound.
"Lost in the Sun" is a song by American indie rock band Ivy. It was released as the third and final single from their sixth studio album, All Hours (2011). It was issued in the United States on April 10, 2012 as a digital download by Nettwerk and Unfiltered Records. The single was written and produced by Adam Schlesinger and Andy Chase.
"The Best Thing" is a song by American band Ivy on their second studio album, Apartment Life (1997). Released on September 12, 1997 by Atlantic Records, it was the band's major-label debut single and served as the parent album's lead single. The track was written by Dominique Durand, Adam Schlesinger and Andy Chase, and was produced by the latter two. A pop song, "The Best Thing" is accompanied by several guitars and a keyboard.
"Distant Lights" is a song by American indie rock band Ivy. It was released as the lead single from their sixth studio album, All Hours (2011). It was issued in the United States on June 7, 2011 as a digital download by Nettwerk. The single was written and produced by Adam Schlesinger and Andy Chase.
"Fascinated" is a song by American band Ivy. It was released as the second single from their sixth studio album, All Hours (2011), and made available for digital download on July 26, 2011 by Nettwerk in the United States. The song was written and produced by both Adam Schlesinger and Andy Chase. An electronica song, "Fascinated" uses keyboards and a repetitive, simple chorus throughout its duration; Ivy's take on the production was called "European" by one critic.
"Digging Your Scene" is a song recorded by English band The Blow Monkeys for their second studio album, Animal Magic (1986). The single was released in February 1986 as the second one from the parent record. It was written by lead singer Dr. Robert, while Howard, Peter Wilson, and Adam Moesley produced it. Musically a pop, soul, and jazz song, "Digging Your Scene" discusses the hatred and disgust that is associated with individuals who have HIV and AIDS. Several media professionals felt the song's subject matter would be the subject of criticism.
American band Ivy has released six studio albums, one extended play (EP), sixteen singles, one promotional single, and eight music videos. After signing to Seed Records, Ivy released their debut EP, Lately, in May 1994. Their debut studio album Realistic was released in February 1995 and produced the singles "Get Enough" and "Don't Believe a Word", along with "Beautiful", which was issued as a promotional single. In 1995, a music video for "I Hate December", a song from Lately, was filmed and released. The song was then distributed as a single in January 1996. Ivy eventually left Seed and signed to Atlantic Records to record their second album Apartment Life, released in October 1997. To promote the album, "The Best Thing", "I've Got a Feeling", "This Is the Day", and "You Don't Know Anything" were made available as singles. Their third album Long Distance was released in Japan in 2000, and the next year in the United States. Three singles were promoted, including "Edge of the Ocean" which peaked at number 160 on the UK Singles Chart, marking their only appearance on that chart.
Chillout 06/The Ultimate Chillout is a compilation album released by Nettwerk Records. It is the final installment in Nettwerk's The Ultimate Chillout series. The album features popular releases from Nettwerk-signed artists such as Delerium and Sarah McLachlan. It also features lesser-known works from other groups such as Bent, Ivy, and the Perishers. It was released in three formats on February 15, 2005, with two commercial CDs made available in Canada and the United States, and a promotional version used for radio distribution.
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