Ivy have finished seven songs for their fifth album, and singer Dominique Durand, husband/multi-instrumentalist Andy Chase and bassist Adam Schlesinger (also of Fountains of Wayne) are giving seven more the spit and polish treatment in their New York studio. Ivy friends James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins) and Scott McCloud (Girls Against Boys) have stopped by to contribute a guitar solo and backing vocals, respectively.

"We feel it's much more like [1997's] Apartment Life than [2000's] Long Distance," Durand says. "Apartment Life was much more a live record and less produced than Long Distance. On this one, everything is played live -- we have no loops, no drum machines, and there's not many keyboards. It's mostly going back to our roots, which is much more pop, light drums and lot of guitars, voice and bass."

The return to a simpler sound was sparked in part by the recording of 2002's covers album Guestroom. "We did [Nick Heywood's] 'Kite' and [the Go Betweens'] 'Streets of Your Town,' and they're very basic, simple pop songs, very uplifting," Durand says. "I think the three of us felt like, 'That's Ivy.' It's kind of our signature feel: airy, upbeat and cheerful, but always with a darker lyrical sensibility."

With Schlesinger busy touring with Fountains of Wayne and Durand and husband/multi-instrumentalist Andy Chase occupied with their side-project Paco, the new album has been recorded in fits and starts over the last year, with an eye towards a January release.

"I love to work like that because you don't get tired, and you just get really excited because you go away for two months and come back and it's like, 'Wow, this is great,'" Durand says. "Normally, when you make a record, you hear your voice for three months straight, and after that I can't even stand it. It's like, 'What am I doing in a band? My god, that voice is awful.' But when you go away and come back, it's like, 'Oh, that voice is really sweet.'"