IAN SWEET’s “#23”–from the forthcoming full-length Shapeshifter, out 9/6 on vinyl and 9/9 on other formats–now has an accompanying music video. Filmed on location in Coney Island and the band’s native Brooklyn, and directed by Eleanor Petry, the video follows vocalist Jilian Medford as she journeys from concrete corridors to sun-drenched beaches and amusement parks at magic hour. Pre-orders are available here.

IAN SWEET started in 2014 with a string of text messages. Medford was a few days away from embarking on her first tour when the driver and drummer she recruited cancelled. Medford sent IAN SWEET drummer Tim Cheney — whom she barely knew — a series of desperate messages, asking if he knew how to drum and whether or not he would be willing to take two weeks off of life to go on tour. Cheney responded soon after with a simple: “Yes.”

Medford and Cheney’s friendship evolved from their time spent on the road into something that she describes as intuitive, telepathic. At the time, Medford had been performing solo under the moniker IAN — in honor of the nickname her skater friends gave her in high school — and put out a self-recorded EP titled Have You Ever Loved Anything This Much. That year, she and Cheney enlisted bassist Damien Scalise, and IAN SWEET became a trio. Medford describes Cheney and Scalise as polar opposites that compliment one another; two charged forces that she mediates, forming a platonic balance that brought Medford stability at a time when she didn’t have any.

IAN SWEET will embark on a slew of North American tour dates in September.

IAN SWEET
Shapeshifter
CD/LP/digital/cassette
September 9, 2016
01. Pink Marker
02. Slime Time Live
03. #23
04. 2soft2chew
05. Cactus Couch
06. Shapeshifter
07. All Skaters Go To Heaven
08. Knife Knowing You
09. Quietly Streaming
10. Pink Marker 2

Tour Dates:

09.06.16 – Cambridge, MA – Middle East Upstairs #
09.07.16 – Philadelphia, PA – Boot & Saddle # &
09.08.16 – Baltimore, MD – Metro Gallery $
09.09.16 – Brooklyn, NY – Album Release Show at Shea Stadium # % ^
09.10.16 – Lancaster, PA – Lizard Lounge $
09.11.16 – Pittsburgh, PA – Black Forge #
09.13.16 – Toronto, ON – Drake Hotel #
09.14.16 – Montreal, QC – Brasserie Beaubien ^ +
09.21.16 – New Haven, CT – Bar

$ – w/ Diet Cig
# – w/ Horse Jumper of Love
& – w/ Harmony Tividad (Girlpool)
% – w/ Florist
^ – w/ HOVVDY
+ – all-ages