Jillian Medford has a funny origin story for Shiverstruck: she wrote the album while working as a children's music teacher. This is either a detail that explains everything about why it sounds the way it sounds, or it's a detail that means nothing. We're going to argue it means everything.
Teaching children music requires a specific set of skills that are directly applicable to making good pop songs. You have to be clear without being condescending. You have to make things feel immediate and accessible without making them feel simple. You have to find the hook — the thing that makes kids remember the song — without sacrificing the substance. Jillian Medford has always been good at this, and Shiverstruck, which arrives July 24 on Polyvinyl, suggests she's gotten better.
Lead single 'Criminal Kissing,' which was released in April, is exactly the kind of song that justifies this reading. It's about making bad decisions and enjoying them anyway — 'Sometimes you just have to lean into the chaos spiral and see where it leads you,' Medford said in a press statement — and the production, handled by Ben H. Allen (known for his work with Marina and the Diamonds, Deerhunter, and others), gives the chaos a clean, forward-leaning momentum.
The tracklist for Shiverstruck includes 10 songs: '987,' 'Criminal Kissing,' 'Silver Screen,' 'Jilian,' 'Deadweight,' 'Shiverstruck,' 'Hired Gun,' 'La La Love,' 'Wild Hart,' and 'Speed Demon.' There's a song named after a simplified version of Medford's own name, which is either a joke or a piece of self-examination. Both feel right.
Ian Sweet opens for American Football on a summer tour leg before heading out on a headlining North American run in October. The tour closes at Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco. Shiverstruck sounds, based on the single, like a record that will do better on repeat than on first exposure — the kind of album that reveals its depth slowly. July 24.