Today is the release of the album Writer’s Block by the prolific Croatian minimal synth artist Iv/An, an artist whom I’ve collaborated with and have corresponded frequently with over the years. Marking a couple of anniversaries, including ten years of Iv/an as an active project, the release is a collection of newer original tracks and other cover songs by artists such as Popsimonova (also from Croatia) and Vice Versa (a band from Sheffield in the early 80s that eventually became synth pop icons ABC). This release is now available in a gorgeous, custom-made CD package on Iv/An‘s Tonal Shifts label.
Iv/An and I have been circling around each other’s orbits for over a decade now, including some musical collaborations over the years, including lending his vocals to a track from 2020’s Chin Up album as well as occasionally having shared a stage together. For me at least he’s an exceptionally talented and very underrated artist that creates fantastic minimal electronic/synth music with a gorgeous voice to it’s definitely worth checking it out.
I’m always curious when artists I really like decide to re-mould any tracks that I originally created into something new and to hear the results. Iv/An‘s cover of “Cinema Eyes” is no exception, pulling the skeletal ideas of that track into his aesthetic sphere and resulting in some new spin on the track. It’s one of the most enduring Soft Riot tracks that since it’s original release on the 2013 album Fiction Production has seen numerous versions of that track being released over that years, and this cover now adding another interpretation to that track, and for that I’m deeply honoured.
Original Version
Version IV (2020)
Iv/An Version
