The Ivy Is Crafting Riveting Retro Hits With Deep Oklahoma Ties
The state of Oklahoma is home to many things. The notorious college football scene, Chuck Norris, and, of course, local indie bands. More specifically, indie bands specializing in '80s-based indie synth-rock. The Ivy is one of those bands. Founded by three young men who crossed paths in music schools, The Ivy is a triad of talent that is looking to take their Oklahoma-based sound to the world at large.
With this small-town feel, the group has not produced anything close to a small-town sound, or small-town numbers for that matter. With already over six million collective plays on Spotify, The Ivy has quickly picked up steam. Despite being a relatively new act, the band has already been featured on tour with the likes of LANY and Jai Wolf. Due to this, the group has been able to spread their sound to a national audience and work on crafting a live set that will have fans grooving right along to the funky synths and dream-inducing vocals.
Of their six million Spotify streams, about a third of them come from their breakthrough single "Have You Ever Been in Love," which is a clear display of the group's consistent sound. With retro synths, brass, 80's drums, and reverbed vocals, The Ivy delivers a track that generations of individuals will collectively enjoy. The songwriting on the track is relatable and each verse is delivered with a flow that feels as though it is right off the cusp of the mind.
Another standout track to get to know the group redefining an era is their single "Gold." "Gold" possesses many of the same elements that make "Have You Ever Been in Love" such as infectious track. The fast-paced drums induce a sensation of foot-tapping and just overflowing joyous movement. As the vocals echo "Take me back to that golden feeling I had," the listener is set to simply craft their own scene of gold and dance right along.
With the acclaim and buzz The Ivy has garnered in recent months, their sound is set to only project upwards. Their most recent release, a single titled "Give Me a Try," is their first with songwriting credits outside of the trio, as the group looks to explore their sound and delve into a more mature stage.
"Give Me a Try" is most definitely a step in the right direction as the group does not abandon their distinguishing synth-based sound but boosts the production quality and delivers a message of reaching out for potential love. The vocals incorporate deeper vocal harmonies that further immerse the listener into the world of synths and various percussions that kindly ambush the ears, all building on one another until the latter end of the track. Ultimately, the synths build into a soundscape of wonder, complimented by a resounding guitar solo to perfect the world that is The Ivy.
The boys from Oklahoma are showing what they have to offer and their growth is set to be exponential. The Ivy is showing that sometimes in order to move forward, you have to step back into the '80s, and we are loving it.