Ivor Game is a British singer-songwriter from Middlesex who’s been making music for most of his life. He began playing guitar and singing at the age of ten, and in his teens, played with a number of bands. When he entered his 20s, he began performing as a solo artist in small clubs and venues around London, and later toured throughout the UK and Ireland, parts of Europe and all the way to America, where he performed in Los Angeles and Nashville.

His music is a pleasing, laid back style of indie pop with strong folk undercurrents and intelligent, straightforward lyrics touching on life, love and relationships. His songs are also quite economical, both instrumentally and length-wise. Generally, the only sounds we hear are his acoustic guitar and gentle, understated vocals, though some tracks may also feature subtle piano, strings and/or percussion. Most of Ivor’s songs are under three minutes in length, with a fair number clocking in at under two minutes, but whatever their length, each song sounds complete and as long or short as it needs to be to get his message across. As the old adage goes, sometimes less is more.

Beginning with his debut album Hit the Big Time in 1996, the prolific musician has released a total of 12 albums at the rate of one every two years, his most recent work being Be Good to Yourself in 2018, as well as numerous singles along the way. Several of his songs have garnered airplay on radio stations across the UK and around the world. A highlight for Ivor was having his song “Highbury” played at half time during the Arsenal vs. Tottenham North London Derby at The Emirates Stadium on November 18, 2017.

One could spend many hours listening to Ivor’s extensive discography. I’ve listened to quite a bit of it to prepare for this article, and there are so many wonderful songs to choose from. But I’ve selected a few I especially like that I feel give a good representation of his sound. One of his most recent singles, from May 2020, is “I’m Not Sure”, a poignant folk song about not yet having come to terms with a restless romantic partner you fear may leave you for good: “It’s easy to hang on to the past, and try to make the whole thing last. But things are always moving on. One day I might wake up with you really gone. I’m remembering the time that you walked out my door. But you’re still in my sights, how long for I’m not sure.”

The song received airplay on Readifolk, Deal Radio, Hayes FM and Marlow FM in England, Acoustic Routes in Wales and the RTE in Ireland, as well as in Australia, Germany, The Netherlands, New Zealand and New York, USA.

“It Ain’t You and Me” is a track that originally appeared on his 2010 album Then. The song was recently played on Tom Robinson’s show on BBC6 Music, and the response was so positive that Robinson asked Ivor if the song could be made more easily accessible for people to listen to or download. Accordingly, Ivor made it available as a stand alone track on both Bandcamp and YouTube.

A particularly lovely song is his 2017 single “Water and Wine”, which is both longer (3.47 minutes) and features ethereal keyboard synths and gentle percussive textures, creating an enchanting backdrop for his soothing vocals.

His most recent single, released in May, is “You Lovely You”, a comforting song about those special friendships in our lives that endure despite distances apart or the passage of time: “I only see you once in a blue moon. But it feels like yesterday that I was here with you. Oh, oh, oh, you lovely you. We seem to pick up where we left off. But we’ll always be the ones that time forgot. Everyone gets old, but we do not.” The song has a breezy, vintage feel like it could have been written in the 1920s.

While I’m a huge fan of alternative rock, dream pop, R&B and dance music, it’s also nice to indulge in a little easy-listening folk pop once in a while to relax and gather my thoughts. Ivor Games’ soothing tunes fit the bill nicely, and I hope my readers will enjoy them as much as I do.

Connect with Ivor: Facebook / Twitter

Stream his music: Spotify / Apple Music / Soundcloud / YouTube

Purchase on Bandcamp