
Brooklyn-based musician Grace Ives presents a new single, “Angel of Business,” from her forthcoming album, Janky Star, out June 10th on True Panther/Harvest. The sounds of “Angel of Business” ricochet off of each other – flitting keyboard, sputtering percussion, and whirring synth. But Ives’ voice breathes reassurance: “I told you about a hundred times so what are you tripping for? // Told you a million bucks I’m not your antidote // I think about you on the floor with your petty coat you could really have the world, fix your appetite.” While “Loose” is somewhat self-effacing and “Lullaby” is quietly introspective, “Angel of Business” is Ives’ moving forward full throttle, despite self-doubt. It’s another taste of Janky Star’s infectious sounds. “I wrote this while going through a rough time at the start of my career (not so long ago),” says Ives. “Uncomfortable meetings, overdrafted account, and sleazy suits. This is my message to myself to have a little faith in the future.”
LISTEN TO GRACE IVES’ “ANGEL OF BUSINESS”
Although Ives’ music has always been steeped in sometimes claustrophobic direct surroundings, she teamed up with co-producer Justin Raisen (Yves Tumor, Charli XCX) in Los Angeles to consummate Janky Star’s expanded vision. Still only in her mid-twenties, the record sounds like Ives grown up: through the ten sophisti-pop tracks, there’s more deliberate space that lends breathing room to her most vulnerable, exposed songwriting yet. Janky Star is at its core about devotion. Three years on from 2019’s 2nd, Janky Star sees Ives take a wider-angle camera lens to her life, and consider the care and attention it takes to find both self-acceptance and self-preservation in a world that never stops spinning. Throughout songs that are still full of punchy synths and unconventional rhythms, Ives uses the quiet spaces in between to honestly reflect on her ongoing struggle to find stability and happiness. Touching on sobriety, overdoses, and the desire to escape from the realities of modern life, the record also focuses on the rewards of slowing down, and finally finding a home for herself in the ever-shifting world.