Ivy

A stylish trio from New York built around Dominique Durand’s airy vocals, Ivy fused luminous indie textures with echoes of classic French pop. Throughout the 1990s the group carved out a refined counterpoint to the prevailing grunge sound and sustained its elegant pop approach well into the following decade.

The story began in 1991 when multi-instrumentalist Andy Chase posted a notice in The Village Voice seeking sympathetic partners. Songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Schlesinger, who shared Chase’s admiration for Prefab Sprout and the Go-Betweens, responded and the two began working together. Three years later they encountered Paris-born Dominique Durand, newly arrived in New York to study English; although she had never performed in a band, her matching taste and smooth delivery completed the lineup.

Ivy signed with the local Seed Records imprint in 1994 and issued the single “Get Enough/Drag You Down,” which Melody Maker designated Single of the Week. The band then tracked its debut EP, Lately, across studios in New York and Paris. Issued in May 1994, the record contained four original numbers plus a version of Orange Juice’s “I Guess I’m Just a Little Too Sensitive,” inaugurating Ivy’s practice of reinterpreting songs by admired artists. Orange Juice’s Edwyn Collins responded so warmly that he invited the group to open his 1995 North American tour. Later that year Seed released the band’s first full-length album, Realistic.

When work began on the follow-up, Apartment Life, Schlesinger’s duties with his other band, power-pop outfit Fountains of Wayne, forced Ivy to assemble the record piecemeal. Guests on those sessions included Fountains of Wayne’s Chris Collingwood and Jody Porter as well as Lloyd Cole, Smashing Pumpkins’ James Iha, and Luna’s Dean Wareham. Atlantic issued Apartment Life in October 1997, yet dropped the band the next year while they toured in support. Ivy subsequently moved to 550 Music, which re-released Apartment Life in 1998. The same year the album cuts “I Get the Message” and “This Is the Day” appeared on the soundtrack to the Farrelly Brothers’ comedy There’s Something About Mary, initiating a lasting association with the directors that extended to the placement of the Steely Dan cover “Only a Fool Would Say That” on the Me, Myself and Irene soundtrack.

In 1999 Chase, Schlesinger, and Iha established their own facility, Stratosphere Sound. An arson attack struck the studio while Ivy was tracking its third album, but the group still finished the atmospheric Long Distance in time for a Japanese release in 2000 and a U.S. release on Nettwerk Records in 2001. Ivy also supplied the score for the Farrelly Brothers’ 2001 comedy Shallow Hal. In 2002 the band issued Guestroom, a set of covers that gathered the Orange Juice and Steely Dan renditions alongside interpretations of songs originally by the Cure, Serge Gainsbourg, House of Love, and Papas Fritas.

The trio then stepped away for several years. During the break Schlesinger concentrated on Fountains of Wayne, whose breakthrough album Welcome Interstate Managers arrived in 2003. Chase launched the solo project Brookville and, alongside Durand, formed the trip-hop duo Paco; both acts released material on Chase’s Unfiltered label.

Ivy resurfaced in 2005 with In the Clear, which incorporated contributions from Iha, Porter, and Brazilian string arranger Zé Luis and received some of the strongest notices the band had earned since Apartment Life. After its release the members entered an extended hiatus to attend to family and separate endeavors. Chase issued additional Brookville albums and raised a family with Durand, while Schlesinger remained active with Fountains of Wayne and joined the supergroup Tinted Windows alongside Iha, Cheap Trick’s Bun E. Carlos, and Taylor Hanson. He further distinguished himself as an Emmy- and Tony-nominated, Grammy-winning composer through collaborations with David Javerbaum on the stage adaptation of John Waters’ Cry-Baby and the television special and album A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!

The group reconvened only in 2011 to deliver its fifth studio album, All Hours. Introducing greater electronic elements than earlier releases, the record reached number 12 on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Albums chart. Group member Adam Schlesinger died on April 1, 2020, from complications related to COVID-19.