Long Distance (Ivy album)

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Long Distance
Ivy's Long Distance album cover.jpg
Studio album by Ivy
Released November 8, 2000
Recorded 1999–2000
Studio
Various
Genre
Length 56:08
Label Nettwerk
Producer
Ivy chronology
Apartment Life
(1997)Apartment Life1997		 Long Distance
(2000)		 Guestroom
(2002)Guestroom2002
Singles from Long Distance
  1. "Lucy Doesn't Love You"
    Released: 2000
  2. "Disappointed"
    Released: July 10, 2001
  3. "Edge of the Ocean"
    Released: July 10, 2001
  4. "I Think of You"
    Released: November 9, 2001

Long Distance is the third studio album by American band Ivy. It was released on November 8, 2000 in Japan, while the US version was released on July 10, 2001 by Nettwerk. Noted as a departure from Ivy's previous studio album Apartment Life (1997), the album took influence from new wave music, as well as from indie pop and indie rock, a style that Ivy is known for. Ivy collaborated with long-time producer Peter Nashel for part of the album, while the rest was completely produced and written by members Andy Chase and Adam Schlesinger.

Long Distance received positive reviews upon release, and is noted for its different sound compared to Ivy's previous works, Apartment Life and Realistic. Many critics favored Ivy's new approach, although some found it less interesting compared to the material on Apartment Life. Commercially, the album fared well in both Japan and the United States, but did not peak on any significant record chart.

Four singles were released from the album. "Lucy Doesn't Love You", "Disappointed" and "I Think of You" were all commercially unsuccessful, while the album's third single, "Edge of the Ocean", appeared in numerous films and television programs. Songs "Undertow" and "Worry About You" also were used heavily in the media, and the latter 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".

Development

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 reissued edition of Apartment Life was released.[1] After the end of the Epic contract and lead singer Dominique Durand's pregnancy, the New York City studio where Ivy regularly recorded music burned down.[1] In order to "take their minds" off of these events, Ivy resumed recording sessions where they began incorporating influences from different types of music, including 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]

The album was initially scheduled to be released by 550 Music and Epic, but the plan fell through after Apartment Life was reissued.[1] According to Schlesinger, Ivy then signed with Nettwerk because "their roster was similar to Ivy across the board". After being released prematurely in Japan, 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]

During recording sessions, Durand, Schlesinger, and 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 starting writing songs that were "less atmospheric" that those on Apartment Life, but contained more "infectious melodies", which the band preferred.[5]

Composition

Songs

Long Distance opens with "Undertow", a track displaying how Durand's vocals have "aged like a fine wine"; the song has "pastoral tones" layered with "a lifting guitar refrain".[6] Single "Disappointed" is the "fast-paced" second track, and 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] 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]

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". The album's eighth song, "Let's Stay Inside", 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 contain violins and organs to achieve an effortless sense, while the former's instrumentation was headed by Ivy's longtime partner James Iha.[11]

The next track is "Hideaway", which is another "escapist tune", featuring "Durand's sensually emotive vocals" that contain a "comforting lush" throughout the choruses.[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 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] The Japanese edition of the album featured a bonus track, "It's All in Your Mind", which remains unreleased in the United States, and softly repeats the song's title throughout.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 68/100[13]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 3/5 stars[7]
Billboard (Favorable)[14]
Blender 6/10 stars[15]
City Pages (Mixed)[16]
Exclaim! (Favorable)[17]
Launch.com 8/10 stars[13]
PopMatters 4/5 stars[12]
Resonance 8/10 stars[18]
Rolling Stone 7/10 stars[19]

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.[13] Jonathan Cohen from Billboard commented that "Durand's sensual vocals are beguiling as ever" and favored singles "Disappointed" and "Edge of the Ocean".[1] 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".[20] Launch.com stated that "no one else stateside is currently making pop quite this lush and lovely", but disapproved of the track "Undertow".[21] E! Online declared "Lucy Doesn't Love You" a summer anthem and predicted that Long Distance would increase Ivy's popularity.[22]

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 on Everything but the Girl, Saint Etienne or vintage Blondie should find plenty to swoon over",[19] while the latter called the sound "cloudy and distant, [but] takes tentative steps toward Everything but the Girl".[15] In a more mixed review, SonicNet stated that "Ivy specialize[s] in nebulously oriented dream-pop: too ethereal for straight pop fans, too structured for the 4AD crowd".[23] Alternative Press was more negative, expressing that "the 13 tracks here are improbably edgeless, all love-me-do/love-me-don't plaints that evaporate on impact".[24] Also divided, Michaelangelo Matos of City Pages, favored Ivy's previous releases more, 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."[16]

Promotion

Despite few live performances, 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,[25][26] and the television series Grey's Anatomy and Veronica Mars.[27][28] "Worry About You" served as the theme song for the ABC drama series Kingdom Hospital,[29] and was featured on the CBS sci-fi series The 4400, in addition to its soundtrack.[30] "Lucy Doesn't Love You" played a role in the similarly titled 2002 movie I'm With Lucy,[31] while "One More Last Kiss" was in the 2002 movie Insomnia.[32]

Although not released as a commercial single, "Digging Your Scene" was released as a radio single and sent to modern rock radio in June 2001.[1] In 2002, the single received a proper release to promote Ivy's fourth studio album, Guestroom.[25] Ivy visited various record stores throughout the US and Japan to promote the album, including at Sam Goody locations, and in West Village; Ivy's touring schedule coincided with the rereleased version of Apartment Life, on September 18, 2001.[1]

Singles

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",[33] while the second additionally contained "Digging Your Scene".[34] The track received favorable reviews from critics,[22] and a music video was filmed in 2000 to promote the song.[35] 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 an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 2001.[36]

Third single "Edge of the Ocean" was also released on July 10, 2001 in the U.S. The single was both a critical and commercial success, appearing in several television series and films, and peaking at No. 160 on the Official Charts Company in the UK.[37] A corresponding music video became Ivy's most-watched music video on the video-sharing website YouTube.[38] The album's fourth and final single, "I Think of You", was released on November 9, 2001.[39]

Track listing

All tracks written by Ivy except "Digging Your Scene", written by Dr. Robert.[11]

Long Distance – Standard edition[40]
No. Title Producer(s) Length
1. "Undertow"  
4:20
2. "Disappointed"  
  • Schlesinger
  • Chase
  • Peter Nashel
 4:24
3. "Edge of the Ocean"  
  • Schlesinger
  • Chase
 4:25
4. "Blame it on Yourself"  
  • Schlesinger
  • Chase
 4:05
5. "While We're in Love"  
  • Schlesinger
  • Chase
 4:36
6. "Lucy Doesn't Love You"  
  • Schlesinger
  • Chase
 3:57
7. "Worry About You"  
  • Schlesinger
  • Chase
 3:59
8. "Let's Stay Inside"  
  • Schlesinger
  • Chase
 4:20
9. "Midnight Sun"  
  • Schlesinger
  • Chase
  • Nashel
 5:27
10. "I Think of You"  
  • Schlesinger
  • Chase
 4:00
11. "Hideaway"  
  • Schlesinger
  • Chase
 4:09
12. "One More Last Kiss"  
  • Schlesinger
  • Chase
 4:51
13. "Digging Your Scene" (Blow Monkeys cover)
  • Schlesinger
  • Chase
 3:40
Total length:
 56:08

Credits and personnel

Release history

Region Date Label Ref.
Japan November 8, 2000 EastWest Japan [41][42]
United States July 10, 2001 Nettwerk America [7]
South Africa Bittersweet [25]
Spain
Europe Nettwerk

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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