Ivadell – “Simplify” (Stereogum Premiere)

Ivadell – “Simplify” (Stereogum Premiere)

After two EPs — The Young Design and Flow — Ivadell are set to release their debut album, Maybe Tomorrow, later this fall. “Simplify,” the record’s second single, starts modestly enough, with lead vocalist Josh Gilley’s understated whispers ushering us in, but the way it builds is simply sublime. About a minute in, the militaristic drumming kicks up dust and brings the world down with them. The Columbia, SC-based band have a lot of grit to them, heavy but not overpowering. “Simplify” has a satisfying internal logic to it that clicks and breathes. The song’s all about how to take the universe and make sense of it, an impossible task but one that the band seems to have found some sense of order in. “I think I’ve had enough of keeping trust with those who lack the self-awareness necessary to redirect,” Gilley sings at one point, which reads more like a rambling self-help mantra than a lyric now that I write it out. But it speaks to the heart of the song itself — getting rid of the negative aspects of your life to find inner stability. Simplifying the jagged edges and hopefully coming out cleaner on the other side. Listen below.

Maybe Tomorrow is out 11/6 via Broken Circles. Pre-order it here.

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