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Nov 06, 2023 Web Exclusive By Michael James Hall

Jillian Medford’s fourth outing as IAN SWEET is an adventurous pop album. It simultaneously builds upon and shifts away from 2021’s Show Me How You Disappear. While that album dealt honestly and poetically with Medford’s dedicated journey of recovery following a mental health crisis, SUCKER is a post-COVID, post-breakup record blooming with hope and self-realization.

Certainly not abandoning her guitar-driven past, Medford’s soft, drifting voice floats gently over shoegaze clouds such as on the tile track, delivering the plaintive observation “I’d be a fool to love you/But I did it anyway.”

It’s Medford’s skill in delivering dancefloor dynamics combined with lyrics that swirl with regret and trauma, which elevates the album into something special. “Smoking Again” combines fuzz guitar with minimalist beats and a triumphal chorus subverted by its chaotic lyrics: “Oh I’ve been a mess/Haven’t slept/Started smoking again.”

“Emergency Contact” is a memorable slice of stoicism, Medford whispering “I don’t mind/I don’t want to get it right this time” over a dreamlike synth and purposefully struck acoustic chords. This slower sway continues on the sweetly sad “Clean,” adrift on a majestic melody that switches into an insistent, angry chorus. Medford sounds positively released by getting these matters down on vinyl and out of her system. “I’ve been running circles around you/Gettin’ dizzy/Now I behave like a body of water/I lay down as still as can be” runs the finest couplet.

Medford’s willingness to reach into her most intimate moments and allow them to bloom within the context of gorgeous, memorable music and melodies make SUCKER a real experience. As Medford herself notes on the wistful “Slowdance,” “There’s romance/Then there’s heartbreak/There’s dreamin’/Then there’s lyin’ awake,” a perfect summation of a beautiful, bittersweet record. (www.iansweetmusic.com)

Author rating: 8.5/10