Brooklyn-based act Ivy League shows a cathartic rock sound throughout the new album American Love. Referenced within the creative process is the Japanese art of kintsugi, which repairs broken pottery with gold to highlight its history rather than conceal it. Comparatively, the themes within American Love embrace past fractures, weaving them into something more valuable. The album doesn’t dwell on what caused the breaks but instead focuses on piecing them back together, gilding the wounds with reflective lyricism and dynamic rock immediacy.
A moody swell of solemn guitars and spacey synth pads stir on the opening “Enouement,” moving into a heavier rock pulse throughout its second half — and quickly showcasing the project’s knack for satiating, evolving tonal dynamics. The ensuing “American Love” builds more quickly into a bursting rock charisma, weaving heavy distortion amidst a bouncy bass line and into a debonair vocal lead. “What can I even say?” the vocals let out, building with momentum into an anthemic yearning — “I wanna feel…” — that induces replays. American Love is full of sharp, replay-inducing rock songwriting, and “American Love” is certainly representative of that.
Another highlight, “Butterflies and Sugar Skulls” struts an energized rock pace with multi-vocal invigoration — assuming a shout-y vibrancy as guitars move seamlessly from brisk contagiousness to a sludgy, textured intrigue. “Where You End, and I Begin” moves with climactic atmospherics, growing from spoken-word encouragements — “I’m sending you love,” — into burgeoning instrumentation that expands from subdued bass panting into triumphant, shimmering guitar work. American Love is a thorough success from Ivy League, showcasing a tendency for both erupting rock immediacy and emotive introspection.
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“American Love” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
