Press Play: Ian Sweet

Jillian Medford is finding her power again under the name Ian Sweet. She started out as a solo act, graduating from Berklee College of Music. She then added two members but has since split from them to return to her role as sole performer and creative director. In this rediscovered role, Medford crafted Crush Crusher, an album released under Sub Pop-sister label, Hardly Art.

Through Crush Crusher, Medford’s voice is a melancholy lilt, cascading over heavy guitar and dripping into a haze. Medford and producer, Gabe Wax, paint an abstract of rich hues: intense reds, moody blues, sneaky splashes of bright yellow. Rhythms of the record are lines that zig-zag, twist and turn, and always take the opposite turn than you’d expect. The album is waking in a cold sweat from dream pop.

Since returning to a solo endeavor, Ian Sweet’s material spends a long time looking in the mirror. Medford addresses a strong desire to please others, to protect them, even at cost to herself. Insecurities are bared, and weights lifted from her stark honesty. Opening track, “Hiding”, finds Medford losing herself in someone else’s expectations. “Holographic Jesus” is a nod to her collection of religious calendars and, more symbolically, how she has tried to make a savior of herself for others. Closer, “Your Arms Are Water”, ends with a hopeful streak from Ian Sweet.

Medford defies gravity and levitates fruit in video for “Spit.”