Stream IAN SWEET’s New Album Crush Crusher
In 2014, Jilian Medford released her first tape as IAN, an enduring collection of songs with a striking vulnerability that carried through as the project morphed over the years. It started out as a solo endeavor and expanded to a full band and now it’s back at those solitary beginnings once again. There was a name change in that time (IAN SWEET now) and a full-length album, 2016’s Shapeshifter. Now, Medford’s a week away from releasing her sophomore album, Crush Crusher, and that same kernel of transparency has remained throughout the project’s many iterations.
Crush Crusher is an album that wears its heart on its sleeve — it’s messy and angry and never knows exactly what the right answer should be, but when it hits on something that might pass for closure, it digs its heels in deep. In songs that hang together like rickety scaffolding, Medford explores toxic relationships and personal imbalances with dramatic flair and a nervy consistency. Her voice often sounds like its on the verge of cracking, but it never does — instead, it finds power in those stumbling moments, a resilience that’s hard to pin down but comes through in the music.
We’ve heard a few songs from it in advance of its release — “Hiding,” “Spit,” and “Holographic Jesus” — and now you can hear the entirety of Crush Crusher below.
TOUR DATES:
10/18 Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room #
10/20 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill #
10/22 Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios #
10/24 Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern #
10/25 Boise, ID @ The Olympic #
10/26 Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court #
10/27 Denver, CO @ Hi Dive #
10/28 Omaha, NE @ O’Leavers #
10/29 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry #
10/30 Chicago @ Subterranean #
11/1 Toronto, ON @ The Monarch #
11/2 Buffalo @ Mohawk Place #
11/3 Boston, MA @ Great Scott # ^
11/5 Brooklyn, NY @ Park Church Co-op # ^
11/6 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s # ^
11/7 Washington, DC @ Union Stage #
11/8 Durham, NC @ The Pinhook #
11/9 Asheville, NC @ The Mothlight #
11/10 Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn #
11/11 Orlando, FL @ 11Eleven Fest
11/12 Tallahassee, FL @ The Wilbury #
11/13 New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa #
11/14 Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall #
11/15 Dallas, TX @ Three Links #
11/16 Austin, TX @ The Mohawk #
11/19 Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar #
11/20 San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar #
# w/ Young Jesus
^ w/ Sean Henry
Crush Crusher is out 10/26 via Hardly Art. Pre-order it here.