On 2023’s Everything Perfect, the New-Jersey born, New York-based songwriter James Ivy—like so many artists creating in the 2020s—relied heavily on his computer. It worked. Everything Perfect distilled his alternative ’90s-influenced sound into a satisfying whole, but it, paradoxically, left him craving more. On 2026’s The Seams, he packed up the laptop and began working with an acoustic guitar and a few trusty instruments. The result is something more immediate than its predecessor, yet familiar to those who fell in love with Everything Perfect. Opener “Throw It Like You Can” waltzes along with a sticky-sweet melodic line and subtle tastes of country-inspired strings. The guitars are crunchy, and Ivy sounds like he’s in conversation with The Bends-era Radiohead. “Eye for an Eye” begins as a restrained post-punk exercise that Ivy smartly infuses with minor-chord accents, giving the song an off-kilter pace. Our Favorite Lyric: “Lima”: “Teach me how to dress human/Or how to resemble as one/’Cause I can’t help it/As long as you’re breathing.”