Naarm / Melbourne producer and songwriter Alice Ivy today shares her latest rapturous single, ‘Weakness (feat. Sycco)’. LISTEN HERE.

From her sophomore LP to her recent slew of standalone collaborative singles, Alice Ivy’s discography increasingly reads like an enviable, hand-picked roster of the most exciting established and emerging non-male and gender diverse artists from Australia and around the world. Following her latest joint single with Camp Cope frontperson Georgia Maq, ‘Someone Stranger‘, ‘Weakness‘ continues to build on the refined curatorial efforts of her Australian Music Prize-shortlisted second LP, Don’t Sleep, a record which boasted collaborations with the likes of Odette, Montaigne, Ngaiire, Thelma Plum, Bertie Blackman and more. Ivy’s modus operandi of working with a deliberately broad range of artists now leads her to First Nations, Meeanjin / Brisbane-based singer-songwriter Sycco, another thread in an abundant tapestry of underrepresented voices and stories that runs across her entire career. Never one to sit still, ‘Weakness‘arrives as Alice Ivy’s first independent release, out via her own label imprint Kewpie Mayo Records, and standing as the first single previewed from her forthcoming third studio album, a project which has been tirelessly, fervently in the works since the release of Don’t Sleep in July of last year.

Of the new single, Alice Ivy shares: “Weakness is definitely one of the most exciting songs I’ve ever worked on. There were many attempts to get into the studio with Sycco over the past year but due to the contant border closures, we decided to jump on a zoom and try and write something instead. Writing with Sasha was amazing, she was so quick with ideas and super energetic in the session which was super refreshing especially when you’re working through screens… This song is the beginning of a new chapter for me. I’ve grown so much as a producer since the release of “Don’t Sleep” last year, I’m exploring new sounds through lots of analogue hardware and also touching back to what got me excited about producing in the first place a soul, Motown and psychedelic influenced sonic universe. This is the beginning of a bigger journey”.

Written remotely between Sycco in Meeanjin/Brisbane with Ivy in Naarm / Melbourne, ‘Weakness‘ came to glitter-strewn life over the space of just a few hours, organically feeding off the instant creative chemistry shared between the pair despite never having formally met each other or written together before. Speaking on this process, Sycco shares: “Weakness was one of the quickest and best zoom sessions I have ever done! It was the first time Alice Ivy and I had ever met and it was instant connection and energy. Annika sent me a demo of it before the session and as soon as we started the session everything fell into place so quickly”.

Far from simple, creative-director-style curation and tastemaking, ‘Weakness‘ once again exemplifies Ivy’s adroit skills as a producer and collaborator, meeting the myriad artists that she works with at a mutual halfway point by nurturing a closer, more intimate working relationship. On ‘Weakness‘ just as on previous efforts, the end result reflects both creative partners in true and equal measure, cutting the elation of Alice Ivy’s emotionally-charged electronica through with hints of Sycco’s swirling, psychedelic indie-pop, and neo-soul. Marking a sonic shift for Ivy that more faithfully reflects her formative love of 70’s psychedelic rock, Motown and soul, ‘Weakness‘sees effects-lathered guitars, chopped vocal samples, and soaring synth lines gliding atop an impeccable, Studio 54-indebted bass and percussion combination, the former coming courtesy of prolific bassist Nick Movshon, a key figure of New York’s funk and soul revival scenes best known for his session work with the likes of Mark Ronson, Amy Winehouse, Bruno Mars and more.

WATCH: Alice Ivy & Sycco – ‘Weakness’ (Official Video)

With its groove-driven logic, timeless aesthetics, and the tangible authenticity of emotion and instrumentation, ‘Weakness‘ exemplifies Alice Ivy’s future vision, one which is a finely-tuned equilibrium between virtuosic musicianship,  disco ball-nostalgia, and perpetual progression. Sunnied and luxuriant, ‘Weakness‘also foreshadows her relocation to Los Angeles in early 2022 in order to continue writing and recording her forthcoming third LP, collaborating with a slew of high-profile U.S. artists whom she’s been connecting with online during the pandemic, taking her curatorial finesse to new global reaches. Before then, however, Alice Ivy is set to usher in the new year with a headline set at NYE On The Hill Festival on 31st December 2021, ‘Weakness‘ providing an apt soundtrack for the optimism of a new era.