In its first release since the 2020 COVID-19-related death of co-founder Adam Schlesinger, New York indie trio Ivy is looking back on 25 years of its sophomore album Apartment Life. The group is offering the 1997 project on vinyl for the first time March 3 through Bar/None in a white edition via that label and a blue version through Newbury Comics.
In another debut, the first of two bonus tracks from the Japanese CD edition of Apartment Life has been released digitally, the breezy “Sleeping Late.” On it, vocalist Dominque Durand emulates Mo Tucker’s singing style on the Velvet Underground’s “After Hours” as she attempts to wish the day away. “We didn’t put it on the Apartment Life album since it was meant to be silly and sort of tongue and cheek, but we ultimately used it as a bonus track for the Japanese release, figuring over there most people wouldn’t understand the lyrics and never know what lazy idiots we were,” Ivy’s Andy Chase says.
Apartment Life increased Ivy’s visibility well beyond the New York indie world thanks to a bigger sound and more accomplished production, with “This Is the Day” popping up in the classic ’90s comedy There’s Something About Mary and the vibrant, moody “The Best Thing” garnering modern rock airplay.
“This is probably the most important record Ivy ever made,” Chase says. “Me, Dominique and Adam were in NYC going from our apartment to the studio every day. It was a glorious time for us — we would just wake up inspired and excited about everything we were doing. We knew we were becoming better at our craft and were excited to show the world.”
“I think with this album we finally succeeded in demonstrating our ability to write and produce great pop songs,” he continues. “It was also the first and last time the three of us smoked pot for the entire duration of an album, supplied by our good friend and co producer Pete Nashel. We also had a healthy budget from Atlantic Records so we had a blast hiring horn players, string quartets, stretching our wings as producers and creating sounds in the studio we had never done before. It was without a doubt the most fun we three ever had making music together. It was a special record for us and still is probably the favorite among our fanbase.”
With occasional flashes of mainstream success but enduring fan appeal, Ivy released four more albums after Apartment Life, the last of which was 2011’s After Hours. Additional back catalog reissues are forthcoming from Bar/None.
