Lately (EP)

Development and legacy

In early 1994, musicians Andy Chase and Dominique Durand met up to record music together, which would form the basis for Ivy. After enjoying several of the finished products, the pair formed the group and invited Adam Schlesinger to join them. Together they wrote and produced "Get Enough" which was well received by the public. According to writer Steven Blush in his book New York Rock, after Melody Maker named the track "Single of the Week", work on Lately was initiated. For the project, Ivy recorded four original compositions in addition to a cover of Orange Juice's 1984 single "I Guess I'm Just a Little Too Sensitive". The version of the cover that appears on Lately is slightly different compared to the one featured on Ivy's fourth studio album, Guestroom (2002); it was also the band's first cover of a song released. Coincidentally, Ivy toured with Edwyn Collins, the writer of the song, shortly after the extended play was released.

Recording sessions for Lately took place throughout early 1994 at The Place in New York City and Studio I'Hôpital Éphémère in Paris. During the meetings, the band members worked with several musicians for the track, including Evan Richey, who handled the cello arrangements for "Can't Even Fake It"; Ted Jensen, who mastered the recordings at Sterling Sound Studios in New York City; and Jean-Pierre Sluys, who served as an assistant mixer to both Chase and Schlesinger. In 2003, Ivy shifted their entire catalog to Chase's newly founded record label Unfiltered Records. Following the release of Chase's side project Wonderfully Nothing (2003) with his band Brookville, Lately with Realistic (1995) and Apartment Life (1997) were all reissued on August 26, 2003.

Composition and promotion

According to the members of Ivy, the release displayed Durand's "heavily accented" vocals and Chase and Schlesinger's "pop melodies and jangly guitars". As described by Ira A. Robbins, author of The Trouser Press Guide to '90 Rocks, Ivy was attempting to bring French pop music back into the American music industry. Doing so, the lyrics–particularly any adjectives used–were summarized as "lifting, wispy, and shimmering" by Jay Stowe, a columnist for Spin. Chase and Schlesinger solely produced the EP, while the two plus Durand handled the lyrical aspects. The record's only single, "I Hate December", was released on January 12, 1996 as a remix on a CD single. However, the release was fronted by Scratchie Records instead of Seed, as the band had departed from the latter label after completing Realistic. A music video for it was produced by Doug Werby and released sometime in 1995. Schlesinger described the inspiration behind the track as being an "anti-Christian single" and called the remixed version "groovy". "I Guess I'm Just a Little Too Sensitive" is of the acoustic genre and was noted by Trouser Press's Vickie Gibbons and Robbins that Durand's pronunciation of "little" in the track sounds more like "lee-dull".

Critical reception

AllMusic's Nitsuh Abebe was generally positive towards Lately, claiming that "its five songs let their dreamier elements come straight from the [...] songwriting" and that it is an example of "sophisticated pop that Ivy created". Stowe from Spin was appreciative of the extended play. He wrote that Ivy was unlike other New York City bands in the way that they catered to "unabashed pop melodies" and later joked that the "concept [is] so far out it's in"; Stowe also described their version of "I Guess I'm Just a Little Too Sensitive" as a "charming" and "special treat".

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Lately.