Ian Sweet – Shiverstruck
IAN SWEET—the project of Los Angeles-based musician Jilian Medford—releases her new album, Shiverstruck, today via Polyvinyl.
In conjunction, she releases the video directed and edited by Lucy Sandler for album highlight, “Wild Heart.”
Medford comments, “At its core ‘Wild Heart’ is about accepting that you can’t outrun who you are. And the same heart that keeps getting broken is the one that keeps picking itself back up and chasing after what it loves the most.” On the song’s chorus Medford sings, “Ya you’ll believe it when you see it // You can’t stop a wild heart // From beatin.”
Across her career, Medford has cultivated a body of work defined by emotional precision and dynamic force—guitars that lurch from whisper to rupture, melodies that carry both ache and defiance. Her songs interrogate identity not as a fixed condition, but as something negotiated daily. Often associated with a lineage of confessional indie rock, she has been labeled a “sad girl,” an archetype she once embraced, whether as armor or proof of depth. There are stretches when the line between Jilian and IAN SWEET disappears entirely—this time around a very real life trifecta of battling industry pressures, the ending of a 3-year relationship, and a return to living in her native city of Los Angeles. Where earlier works collapsed the distance between Jilian and IAN SWEET, this record gently reestablishes it. Her trajectory has never been about sadness itself; it has been about understanding it, metabolizing it, and ultimately refusing to be reduced by it.
Shiverstruck was written during her second year living in New York City, a period that shaped her in ways both profound and messy. In 2023, to make ends meet amidst the increasingly unsustainable economies of touring and streaming as an independent musician, Medford put her strengths as a songwriter to the test, taking an unexpected job working with children. “Watching children respond to music for the first time; their faces lighting up completely unselfconscious, it rewires your brain as a songwriter and steers you more towards honesty. Everything felt immediate and real.” The writing process became an act of surrender and an intentional relinquishing of control. Rather than meticulously sculpting every emotion, she allowed the songs to assume their own architecture. In doing so, she discovered a new softness—a compassion for herself that doesn’t require total collapse to feel human.
IAN SWEET just wrapped up a run of dates supporting American Football on tour. Tonight, she will play a sold out album release show in Los Angeles at Bob Baker Theater, and in October, she will embark on an extensive headline tour.
IAN SWEET Tour Dates (New Dates in Bold)
Fri. July 24 – Los Angeles, CA @ Bob Baker Theater [Album Release Show] – SOLD OUT
Tue. Oct. 12 – Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool ^
Thu. Oct. 15 – Portsmouth, NH @ The Press Room ^
Fri. Oct. 16 – Battleboro, VT @ The Stone Church ^
Sat. Oct. 17 – Montreal, QC @ La Sotterenea ^
Sun. Oct. 18 – Toronto, ON @ The Baby G ^
Tue. Oct. 20 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Pyramid Scheme ^
Wed. Oct. 21 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas ^
Thu. Oct. 22 – Milwaukee, WI @ Falcon Bowl ^
Fri. Oct. 23 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry ^
Sat. Oct. 24 – Eau Claire, WI @ The Plus ^
Mon. Oct. 26 – Nashville, TN @ Drkmttr ^
Tue. Oct. 27 – Atlanta, GA @ Aisle 5 ^
Wed. Oct. 28 – Durham, NC @ The Pinhook ^
Thu. Oct. 29 – Richmond, VA @ The Camel ^
Fri. Oct. 30 – Washington, DC @ DC9 ^
Tue. Nov. 3 – Seattle, WA @ Baba Yaga !
Wed. Nov. 4 – Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall !
Fri. Nov. 6 – San Francisco, CA @ Cafe Du Nord !
Sat. Nov. 7 – Los Angeles, CA @ Sid The Cat Auditorium !
^ w/ Meg Elsier
! w/ Luella
#ian_sweeeeet