ill peach is a band out in Los Angeles that I've been infatuated with since 2021, when the Excuse Us While We Find Our Minds EP landed in front of me through a playlist spotlight. I was immediately moved by "Up Up and Away" and knew I had found something special. Their music has soundtracked my life ever since.
Jess Corazza and Pat Morrissey started ill peach because they are songwriters who were told their ideas were too weird and outlandish. They wanted a place to create and act on ideas that didn't fit anywhere else, and ill peach was formed. Jesse Schuster was involved early on, helping with co-writes, guitar, and more, and was officially added to the roster in 2024. (Side note: the big googly eye on his guitar is the best thing ever.)
This summer, their second record, EAVESDROPPING, was released. Right away it's focused and cohesive, all while keeping "weird" front and center. The concept is eavesdropping: Corazza was inspired by listening in on strangers' conversations that often took wild turns. Messy drunk couples in bars, people getting roped into cults, and more paved the way for the record's inspiration. As she wrote in a newsletter, "I think I used eavesdropping as a way to dissociate from the sadness." Her dad passed away from an illness while she was making the record, and she said making the album was therapeutic. The letter ended with, "As humans, we're constantly interacting and weaving our stories together. This album is about that human-ness—and in a world where everyday humanity feels questioned, I think it's kind of powerful to remind ourselves that we're all connected through something. Whether it's love, drama, annoyance, sadness, or just plain, basic, boring nothing."
There is a noticeable shift in the music toward indie sleaze. It was immediate when lead single "Cult Daddy" released, and became even more pronounced with the singles that followed. Listening to the record is like stepping into a funhouse mirror. Every detail, from glitchy, distorted backing vocals to trippy synths, layers on top of the others into something beautiful.
"Rodeo" is the song that best captures the whole record. Every line is amazing, especially "bigger than small, bigger than Midwest malls," delivered in an almost sultry tone that makes it land even harder. It also features a co-write from Steph Jones, who co-wrote "Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter. Another cool collaboration is the Miya Folick co-write on the exhilarating, fast-paced "Crumbs." My favorite track is "All Day I Dream About Sleep (A.D.I.D.A.S)," featuring a co-write from kill Dave, who is in MILKBLOOD with Pat. (They are also so, so amazing, so please check them out.) The melody is such an earworm, and the synths are killer.
The last two tracks, "Yup" and "Ashtray," are a somber end to a rather wild record. I absolutely love "Yup" and how it captures the complexity of loving someone you can no longer tolerate. The closing track, "Ashtray," begins quiet and keeps building until it explodes, pairing perfectly with the frustrated writing about a relationship with someone who is like an addiction or a bad habit. It's also the first ill peach track (I'm pretty damn sure) to have strings, which gives it a cinematic, expansive feel. Then it's just Corazza and the guitar, and a defeated "goodbye."
Absolutely insane. EAVESDROPPING is a spectacular sophomore effort that shows they're in a lane of their own. In a Bandcamp stream chat for the record, I said, "something about the music scratches something in my brain," to which they replied, "we are definitely trying to scratch brains." So if you want some brain scratches, I highly recommend taking some time to listen to EAVESDROPPING by ill peach.
