“Looking at my life in its final form/ The shape it took, I’d never seen before,” Jilian Medford sings on ‘Silver Screen’, a highlight from her new album Shiverstruck. She might as well be describing the ever-shifting trajectory of IAN SWEET, the moniker that serves as less and less of a vehicle to separate herself from her music. When AI-generated soundalikes start releasing fake music under your pseudonym, what choice do you have but to put your rawest self out there? There’s a wildness to the SUCKER follow-up, which wraps your heart in a knot from the breathtakingly vulnerable opener ‘987’ to the self-reflexive ‘Jilian’. Working with producer Ben Allen, Medford had never pored over her own lyrics this much, never spent so much time focusing on the vocals. But it’s the opposite of any sense of perfectionism that renders this a never-before-seen version of IAN SWEET; not final, but probably unrecognizable to the one that came before or the one that might follow. We’re lucky her songs send shivers down your spine just the same.
We caught up with IAN SWEET to talk about acupuncture, Neko Case, smudged lipstick, and other inspirations behind her new album, Shiverstruck, which is out today.
Her dog, Blueberry
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In what ways did you feel his presence behind the scenes while writing the record?
It’s so beautiful having an animal. It’s something you don’t even really realize, that you just have this other living being with you at all times that you have to take care of and feed and be a mother to. I’ve had Blue now for six years, and every day, I can’t believe I’ve kept him alive, kind of. [laughs] It’s still shocking to me that I have been taking care of this other thing. Both writing and recording the record, he was there with me every single moment. I also brought him with me to Atlanta, where I recorded, and he came to the studio every day. I was kind of nervous, because he’s a bit of chaotic energy, and he can nip at people’s heels. He’s just unpredictable in an amazing way, but once he loves you, you’re in, and he’s the most loyal, precious thing ever. It was really special being in the studio with him, knowing what kind of dog he is; he’s part Jack Russell and part Chihuahua, so he’s definitely got wild energy. And he’s a rescue dog, so he’s got all that baggage with him, too. I was like, “I hope he’s quiet. I hope he behaves.”
And it was really beautiful. He would be in the room with me while I’d be doing vocal takes. He would scratch at the door when I’d go in, because he’d be sad that I left the room, and I’d be like, “Okay, I’m gonna let you in.” He just would sit there completely silent, just staring at me, or be dead asleep as I was recording vocals. It almost makes me want to cry – this creature that I have, who’s normally very energetic, very crazy, wild, but as soon as I was singing, he kind of knew that it was time to just settle in and quiet down. It was really special having him there, doing my vocal takes, and then looking over at him, either looking up at me, or just falling asleep and being so comfortable in the space. A lot of those moments are documented as well; in the vinyl, there’s a pull-out poster with a lot of photos of the studio time, and he’s made his way into every photo, because he was just there in every moment.
This may be a strange question, but were there moments you can think of, be it in the studio or when you were writing, when it seemed like he kind of understood what you were feeling before you even knew it?
I think that really is so true about animals, and also rescue dogs who have been through a lot of their own trauma as well, their own experiences. He very much reads into a lot of my emotions and is very in tune with what I’m going through. I definitely feel like he was aware of it and brought such great energy, even to the writing process. I was writing a lot of the songs in my apartment in New York, and I’d get in my head about something, and then he and I would just go on a walk. I’d just let it go and forget and have moments with him; he’s kind of a tool for me to get out of my head. He represents more to me than just being my dog. I’m looking at him right now because he’s laying right here. [laughs] Yeah, he’s definitely a part of me.
Did he in any way inspire the line “You’re a dog licking at open wounds”? Were you looking at him when the metaphor came to you?
Maybe subconsciously. I’m sure he was in the room when I was writing that, but I have seen him continue if there’s something happening, he’s constantly looking at his paws, and it’s like, “That’s not gonna help you. I think that actually makes the wound worse.”
Driving on the 101 with the windows down and the AC blasting
That’s my favorite way to drive in general, and it’s also a beautiful way to listen to Shiverstruck, especially when you get to the final track, ‘Speed Demon’. Do you tend to only listen to music when you’re driving, or do you sometimes sit in silence and let melodies or lyrics come to you?
Both, for sure, but I do drive in silence, a lot of the time. I do my best thinking and writing and rewriting and just general brain work when I’m driving. I love driving, and that’s something I really missed when I was living in New York for the last three years. I feel really safe and locked-in and creative in my car. I did just get a new car, though. Well, it’s an old car, it’s a 2006 Mercedes, it’s very old. It only plays CDs, so I can’t really have the option to play anything, and it’s been weird. I haven’t listened to my music in the car yet, which is my favorite way to listen to my own music as well. If I’m gonna test a demo or something, I really often want to do it in the car, but I haven’t. And I don’t think my record label’s planning on making CDs, so maybe I have to burn one. [laughs]
The thing with the AC down and windows blasting is that it brings me back to my childhood. My dad would never let that happen. He’d be like, “If we have the AC on, we have to have the windows up.” It’s such a rule, but I don’t know why it is a rule. On a hot day, that is just so nice. I love having the windows down and driving. Traffic sucks, but it’s not the worst. I like doing my thinking in the car.
The phrase “on the run” comes up on a couple of songs, both ‘Speed Demon’ and ‘La La Love Me’. I’m curious about how this theme of escapism came up for you, whether while you were living in New York or coming back to LA.
I was feeling really trapped in New York and having a hard time there, emotionally. With my surroundings, I felt like I couldn’t get out fully or be by myself. There’s a lot of moments in New York of feeling isolated, but never alone. You’re always surrounded by people, but there’s kind of a lonely feeling. Although I love New York, and I loved my time there as well, a lot of this record is me fantasizing, in a way, about wanting to be back in LA. On ‘Silver Screen’, I talk about driving through Laurel Canyon and mention the 101. I was like, “I want something simple like that. Something so simple will be healing for me, to have an escape and be able to be by myself fully.” I wanted to go back to those small things that, at the time, I didn’t think really mattered too much, but then in retrospect, driving in my car with the AC on and whatever is actually really important to me. It’s really something kind of essential to my happiness, and I was missing that. Missing these little simple things that I took for granted.
Acupuncture
All of 2024 and 2025, I would constantly get strep throat. Once every couple of months, I was getting really bad throat infections and getting really sick and couldn’t figure out what was going on. I was like, “Maybe my immune system’s super busted. But that was all in the midst of writing the record, and also, going to Atlanta to record it, and I was praying to God that I didn’t get sick. Somebody recommended I start doing acupuncture as a form of both relieving stress and anxiety, but also for building back up my immune system and getting that regulated. So, I found a really incredible Chinese medicine doctor who I did acupuncture with, and it was really amazing and very healing. It allowed me to slow down and be really present.
I remember one sessoins where the acupuncturist was like, “I’m gonna shut off the lights, you’re gonna be in here for a half hour stay still.” She was like, “Envision what your future you want your future to look like. Do some manifesting, don’t let your mind spin on things that are currently happening. Look towards the future.” And I don’t really do that. I don’t ever take the time to envision what I would want things to look like. Sometimes I’m just so caught up in the moment, or not looking at good things in the future, maybe tripping about something bad. I did end up having to get my tonsils removed, which was not so great. But still, the acupuncturist really helped me through being sick and the healing after that, too, because it was so sensitive and scary to have a surgery on my throat. But now I feel like I’m at my best health and singing shape because of it.
So you recorded the album before the surgery, with that persistent anxiety of getting sick?
Yeah, it’s been four or five months since I got them out. I luckily did not get sick at all during the recording, so I think acupuncture really helped me during that time. But now that I have my tonsils out, I’m definitely feeling so much better. I feel like I used my voice in a different way on this record. I was really wanting my voice to be at the forefront, intentionally. I feel like on past records, I might have buried it behind production, or been a little bit afraid to have it presented so on a platter. I wanted to have it be kind of the star of the record, and let everything else take shape around it. The vocals took the most time out of the whole record, just because I was wanting that to be the focal point and statement piece. It was a lot of singing. Definitely my voice would get strained, but I was taking really good care of it, and taking really good care of myself, too. The anxiety was very much present, for sure, but I tried to push through it.
Blacklisted by Neko Case
I discovered this record only a few years ago. I had always heard about Neko Case and everybody was recommending her, but never really went super deep in. It’s interesting, because it’s not like my music sounds like hers, but that’s the same with a lot of my inspirations. My music doesn’t sound like them, but I think it’s the person in the music that I’m inspired by, and how fearless they are. Her record is so raw, and you can feel her humanity and what she’s going through, through mostly her vocals. Her voice is just so pure, and she sounds perfect to me, but it’s always flawed, in a way. I don’t think she’s messing up notes or anything, but she has that energy of wanting the takes to feel really personal and not like she’s chopping it all up to make it one perfect take. I took a lot of inspiration from that.
The record feels really alive, and especially the song ‘I Wish I Was the Moon’ – I think I played that a thousand times over and over again. It’s the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard, and the lyrics are crazy. “I’m so tired, I wish I was the moon.” I mean, something so simple like that is just the peak level of songwriting for me, where you’re not overthinking it, and you just have a lyric that you can put out there, and it can be universally understood, but it’s also so personal.
Is working with a producer something that helps you deal with the feeling of a vocal take being flawed?
Yeah, I’m really hard on myself with vocals, and it can be tough for me to listen back. But I think that the producer on this record, Ben Allen, really helped me feel confident in the vocals, and was always lifting me up and being like, “This is a fucking killer take.” I would be like, “Ugh, I don’t like it.” And he was like, “This feels very real, and you can feel you in the moment here.” That was something I was learning to lean into in real time. I think that if you have people around you that you trust, and you trust their opinions, and they’re incredibly talented – why would they want to put something out there, too, that wouldn’t sound good? Everybody’s on a team together. That gave me permission to not overthink it and feel comfortable singing crazy takes that I might have completely botched. I would throw out a lot of ideas of, “Let me try this, let me try that,” or him being like, “Let’s try this.” There was no, “No, that’s not gonna work.” Like how I’m saying with Nico, your most flawed take might be the best one. You just don’t know.
Looney Tunes vintage T-shirts
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I saw in a post with Blueberry that you had a shirt that said, “What part of no don’t you understand,” which I love.
Yeah, I love that one. I don’t know how this began or what it is, but I just find a lot of comfort in these T-shirts. Knowing that they’ve all been owned by someone in the past, there’s rips and holes, and that it’s had a life before me – I mean, that’s all vintage stuff, but there’s something kind of goofy about the Looney Tunes stuff, because I’m like, “Did this belong to a child? [laughs] Who was wearing this? What’s the story behind this?” I’m a huge Space Jam fan and always have been. I have an old song, ‘23’, that’s kind of about Michael Jordan. My dad was a basketball referee, so I grew up loving basketball, but I think I fell in love with the Looney Tunes in Space Jam. It’s not like I’m a big collector or anything serious, but if I find a good Looney Tunes tee, I’m gonna get it. Especially Taz. [This interviewer is wearing a vintage T-shirt with Taz.] I don’t know what it is about Taz. I think Taz was my first crush or something. [laughs] I just love his whole thing, and I’ve got a hilarious T-shirt that I’ll have to send a picture of. Wait, what does it say on the shirt?
It says, “Now try your password,” and there’s a lock.
Oh, that’s funny, and he smashed it. I love how crazy he is.I’ve got a really epic shirt from him with a cowboy hat on, cowboy boots, playing an acoustic guitar with a headset. He’s like a country music star. It’s my favorite shirt ever, and it’s so precious I almost barely wear it. I don’t know what it is, I just really cherish the energy. I feel like as a kid, I was very Taz. I was running around and causing chaos, and it just feels really nostalgic and sweet to me.
Is what you wear important to you at all when you’re writing?
Not particularly writing, but I think in the studio, I want to show up. I feel like I’ll remember those days forever, so it’s kind of burned in your mind, how you showed up that day. I have so many photos from that studio day of that shirt, of “What part of no don’t you understand” and there’s so many photos of Blue and I together, where he’s looking and begging for a treat or something. I just think it’s really funny that I’m wearing that shirt.
Smudged lipstick
In general, messy and not totally manicured looks or vibes, like the imagery of somebody wiping their lipstick away, or having made out with someone and it’s everywhere – this record’s full of those imperfections. I was also kind of in a messy, chaotic period in my life, living in New York and figuring things out, and not wanting everything to be pristine and perfect, and feeling really okay with that. For the first time in my life, I can not be totally put together and present a less precious version of myself to the world. I’ve just been feeling that way even post-making the record. I really wanna let it go and let it be open and not overthink every little thing, even when it comes to your makeup or your outfit. I just want to be raw with it all.
Did the decision to return to LA still feel like an act of self-restraint, like you were pulling back from the messiness, or drawing a line between that life and this one?
I feel a lot better being here, mentally. I don’t ever want to draw a line or a wall between the two, because everything in my life kind of flows into the next moment or next thing I’m gonna be doing. The messiness of New York and the late nights were so formative and important and have led me now to want a little bit more of a stable, calm life. I’m getting older, I want to really settle into who I am and find that inner peace and comfort that can be hard with the chaos of New York. But without that, I wouldn’t have really wanted to return. So if I didn’t have that experience, I would have just been in LA being like, “I’m bored.” [laughs] But I had to get a little bit shaken up to appreciate what was coming next.
‘Superstar’ by the Carpenters
This song actually was the first song I ever was given to sing in a voice lesson when I was 13 years old by my voice teacher. That’s when I discovered Sonic Youth, too, because they covered it. So I was 13 years old, being like, “Whoa.” This song has always been in my life, in one way or another, but why it came in so clear making this record is the restraint that this song has. It’s never trying to go anywhere huge. It’s just telling this story kind of quietly, but it’s not making a huge statement or having these huge final moments of a song. I feel like the song ‘Shiverstruck’ was kind of inspired by this song. Originally, that song was gonna have this big, huge ending, and everything was gonna be hitting in crazy. I was listening back to this song by accident, and I was like, “I think I want to cut that end part completely. I just want to pull back.” I want to pull back on the reins and not feel like every song needs to explode to be emotional. That’s why the song was so important to me in the process. It’s devastating, but it’s not overly produced – just in its quality, just by existing, it can pull at your heartstrings. That was what I was trying to achieve on a lot of these songs.
You mentioned ‘Shiverstuck’, and I wanted to ask how you landed on that word for the title. Of course, my mind also went to the Coldplay song ‘Shiver’.
Oh, I love Coldplay. [laughs] We all know I love Coldplay, and I love that first record especially. But I remember writing down the song title in my notes app one night in my apartment. I was just lying in my bed, and it popped in my head. I had written the word before I had written the song. It was while I was writing a lot of these songs, so they were starting to kind of have the same conversation, and they were starting to exist and building a world. “Shiverstruck” felt like the word that they could all orbit around, because to me, that word just feels like you’re being caught off guard, you’re being swept away by life. It gives you this overwhelming feeling that you can’t name or explain: the joys, the hardships, the longing, the yearning of life all feel encapsulated in that word.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
IAN SWEET’s Shiverstruck is out now via Polyvinyl.
