Lately (EP)

In early 1994, musicians Andy Chase and Dominique Durand met up to record music together, which would form the basis for Ivy. After enjoying several of the finished products, the pair formed the group and invited Adam Schlesinger to join them. Together they wrote and produced "Get Enough" which was well received by the public.{{harvnb|Bogdanov|Woodstra|Erlewine|2002|p=566}} According to writer Steven Blush in his book New York Rock, after Melody Maker named the track "Single of the Week", work on Lately was initiated.{{harvnb|Blush|2016|p=368}} For the project, Ivy recorded four original compositions in addition to a cover of Orange Juice's 1984 single "I Guess I'm Just a Little Too Sensitive". The version of the cover that appears on Lately is slightly different compared to the one featured on Ivy's fourth studio album, Guestroom (2002); it was also the band's first cover of a song released.{{cite journal|title=Is There an Over Arching Mood or Sound?|journal=Rocker Girl|date=2005|volume=55-57|page=28|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5gk5AQAAIAAJ|access-date=December 17, 2016}} Coincidentally, Ivy toured with Edwyn Collins, the writer of the song, shortly after the EP was released.{{cite web|title=Ivy: Bio|url=http://thebandivy.com/bio/|publisher=The Band Ivy|access-date=December 17, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510034403/http://www.thebandivy.com/bio/|archive-date=May 10, 2016}}

Recording sessions for Lately took place throughout early 1994 at The Place in New York City and Studio I'Hôpital Éphémère in Paris. During the meetings, the band members worked with several musicians for the track, including Evan Richey, who handled the cello arrangements for "Can't Even Fake It"; Ted Jensen, who mastered the recordings at Sterling Sound Studios in New York City; and Jean-Pierre Sluys, who served as an assistant mixer to both Chase and Schlesinger.{{cite AV media notes|others=Ivy (band) |title=Lately |type=liner notes |publisher=Unfiltered |year=2003 |id=8 29917 40032 7}} In 2003, Ivy shifted their entire catalog to Chase's newly founded record label Unfiltered Records. Following the release of Chase's side project Wonderfully Nothing (2003) with his band Brookville, Lately (along with Realistic (1995) and Apartment Life (1997)) was reissued on August 26, 2003.{{cite journal|title=Brookville: Wonderfully Nothing|journal=CMJ New Music Monthly|date=September 1, 2003|volume=77|issue=829|page=4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6OEc81fEaBwC|access-date=December 17, 2016|publisher=CMJ Network, Inc.|issn=0890-0795}}

According to the members of Ivy, the release displayed Durand's "heavily accented" vocals and Chase and Schlesinger's "pop melodies and jangly guitars". As described by Ira A. Robbins, editor of The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock, Ivy was attempting to bring French pop music back into the American music industry.{{harvnb|Robbins|Sprague|1997|p=367}} The lyrics were summarized as "lifting, wispy, and shimmering" by Jay Stowe, a columnist for Spin.{{cite journal|last1=Stowe|first1=Jay|title=Staff Selections: Heavy Rotation|journal=Spin|date=September 1994|volume=10|issue=6|page=32|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8X17JjiXfYYC|access-date=December 17, 2016|publisher=SPIN Media LLC|issn=0886-3032}} Chase and Schlesinger solely produced the EP, while the two plus Durand handled the lyrics.{{cite news|last1=Gilmer|first1=Vickie|last2=Robbins|first2=Ira|title=Ivy / Brookville|url=http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=ivy|access-date=December 17, 2016|work=Trouser Press|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317011631/http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=ivy|archive-date=March 17, 2016}}

The record's only single, "I Hate December", was released on January 12, 1996, as a remix on a CD single. However, the release was issued by Scratchie Records instead of Seed, as the band had departed from the latter label after completing Realistic.{{cite AV media notes |title="I Hate December" |others=Ivy |year=1996 |type=Liner notes/ CD booklet |publisher=Scratchie |id=601658-7007-26}} A music video for it was produced by Doug Werby and released sometime in 1995.{{cite web|title=Ivy, Ivy, Ivy – I Hate December|url=http://www.cmt.com/videos/ivy/306685/i-hate-december.jhtml|publisher=CMT|access-date=December 17, 2016|date=October 31, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220141706/http://www.cmt.com/videos/ivy/306685/i-hate-december.jhtml|archive-date=December 20, 2016}} Schlesinger described the inspiration behind the track as being an "anti-Christian single" and called the remixed version "groovy".{{cite episode|title=James Iha, D'arcy, Adam Schlesinger, & Chris Collingwood|series=120 Minutes|credits=Host: Matt Pinfield|network=MTV|airdate=November 17, 1996|season=11}}

"I Guess I'm Just a Little Too Sensitive" was covered in an acoustic style. Robbins and Vickie Gibbons of Trouser Press noted that Durand's pronunciation of "little" in the track sounded more like "lee-dull".

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{rating|3|5}}

}}

AllMusic's Nitsuh Abebe was generally positive towards Lately, claiming that "its five songs let their dreamier elements come straight from the [...] songwriting" and that it is an example of "sophisticated pop that Ivy created".{{cite news|last1=Abebe|first1=Nitsuh|title=Ivy – Lately|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/lately-mw0000114109|access-date=December 17, 2016|publisher=AllMusic|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221035152/http://www.allmusic.com/album/lately-mw0000114109|archive-date=December 21, 2016}} Stowe from Spin wrote that Ivy was unlike other New York City bands in the way that they catered to "unabashed pop melodies", and later joked that the "concept [is] so far out it's in"; Stowe also described their version of "I Guess I'm Just a Little Too Sensitive" as a "charming" and "special treat".

{{Track listing

| headline =

| total_length = 17:36

| extra_column = Producer(s)

| title1 = Wish It All Away

| writer1 = {{flatlist|

• Andy Chase
• Adam Schlesinger
• Dominique Durand

}}

| length1 = 3:10

| extra1 = {{flatlist|

• Chase
• Schlesinger

}}

| title2 = Twisting

| writer2 = {{flatlist|

• Chase
• Schlesinger
• Durand

}}

| length2 = 4:15

| extra2 = {{flatlist|

• Chase
• Schlesinger

}}

| title3 = I Hate December

| writer3 = {{flatlist|

• Chase
• Schlesinger
• Durand

}}

| length3 = 2:33

| extra3 = {{flatlist|

• Chase
• Schlesinger
• Peter Nashel

}}

| title4 = Can't Even Fake It

| writer4 = {{flatlist|

• Chase
• Schlesinger
• Durand

}}

| length4 = 3:30

| extra4 = {{flatlist|

• Chase
• Schlesinger

}}

| title5 = I Guess I'm Just a Little Too Sensitive

| writer5 = Edwyn Collins

| length5 = 4:08

| extra5 = {{flatlist|

• Chase
• Schlesinger

}}

}}

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Lately.{{cite AV media notes|others=Ivy |title=Lately |type=liner notes |publisher=Seed |year=1994 |id=0 7567-95913-2 6}}

• Andy Chase – engineering, executive producer, mixing
• Dominique Durand – lead and background vocals
• Ned Farr – photography
• Ted Jensen – mastering
• Peter Nashel – producer
• Evan Richey – cello
• Adam Schlesinger – engineering, executive producer, mixing
• Jean-Pierre Sluys – assistant mixing

{{Reflist|30em}}

Works cited

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book|last1=Bogdanov|first1=Vladimir|last2=Woodstra|first2=Chris|last3=Erlewine|first3=Stephen Thomas|authorlink3=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|title=All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul|date=2002|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn= 9780879306533 | edition=illustrated}}
• {{cite book|last1=Blush|first1=Steven|title=New York Rock: From the Rise of The Velvet Underground to the Fall of CBGB|date=2016|publisher=Macmillan|isbn= 978-1250083623}}
• {{cite book|last1=Robbins|first1=Ira A.|last2=Sprague|first2=David|title=The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock: The All-new Fifth Edition of The Trouser Press Record Guide|date=1997|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=0684814374|edition=5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/trouserpressguid00robb_1}}

{{refend}}

• {{Discogs master|122408|Lately|type=album}}

{{Ivy (band)}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1994 EPs

Category:Ivy (band) albums