Raised on the Victorian surf coast, the daughter of German migrants, Annika Schmarsel aka Alice Ivy, recalls a childhood coloured by extensive travel in a vibrant and multilingual household. Her first foray into music, an ill-fated tryst with the clarinet, was swapped for guitar before Annika began beat-making inspired by the likes of The Avalanches, J Dilla and Bonobo.
As member of all-female soul outfit Sweethearts, in her late teens Annika twice toured Europe performing at the Poretta Soul Festival, Italy and Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland alongside luminaries of the genre ranging Al Green through Mark Ronson.
In the mere twelve months since founding electro-soul project Alice Ivy, she’s released a trio of singles, earned support slots for Banoffee and Remi and completed a UK and European tour.
‘Touch’, the first single from her forthcoming debut album is a sophisticated arrangement that conjures a “Through The Looking-Glass”-esque dreamscape, layering original field recordings from the streets of Melbourne with warm guitar lines, sampled strings, brass and a manipulated feature vocal from London-based blues singer Georgia Van Etten.
Let the champagne flow, and welcome Alice Ivy into the Dream.
