For her second album, Ian Sweet (aka Jilian Medford) went solo and returned home, leaving the high-octane lifestyle of New York behind her for the relative tranquillity of LA.

The sometimes Frankie Cosmos touring partner felt that, in order to be as truthful to herself as an artist as possible, she had to remove as many filters from the creative process as she could. This meant leaving her band and her friends behind and going it alone, and, let’s face it, who better to make you face up to your shortcomings than your family and childhood friends?

Ian Sweet challenged herself to be brutally honest with herself, no matter how uncomfortable, and to put aside lofty lyrical style in favour of being dangerously direct. The result is ‘Crush Crusher’, her most arresting release to date, with songs such as Ugly/Bored summing up the casual joylessness of sexual encounters in the age of Tinder perfectly.

To help her achieve her ambitions, she enlisted the help of producer and engineer Gabe Wax (Deerhunter, The War on Drugs, Soccer Mommy). Medford and Wax set up shop at Rare Book Room studios in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and completed the basic tracking with musicians Simon Hanes (bass) and Max Almario (drums).

“Coming into a space where some of my biggest inspirations like Bjork, Dirty Projectors, and Deerhunter had all once also recorded, I felt determined to push myself and test every boundary that I may have subconsciously created along the way. Gabe made me feel comfortable with attempting anything,”

Although much of the minutia behind the creation of this album must have been difficult for her, the results are bold, frank and engaging and if Sweet can continue down this path she may well end up being one of the finest voices in alternative rock.

Ian Sweet plays The Grand Social on February 11th. Tickets €13.54.