Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	68/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Billboard	(Favorable)
Blender
City Pages	(Mixed)
Exclaim!	(Favorable)
Launch.com
PopMatters
Resonance
Rolling Stone

Long Distance is the third studio album by the American band Ivy. It was released on November 8, 2000, in Japan, while the US version was released on July 10, 2001, by Nettwerk. A departure from Ivy's previous studio albums Realistic (1995) and Apartment Life (1997), Long Distance was influenced by new wave, but maintained Ivy's signature blend of indie pop and indie rock music. Ivy collaborated with long-time producer Peter Nashel for two of the album's tracks, while the rest were written and produced entirely by members Andy Chase and Adam Schlesinger.

Long Distance received positive reviews upon its release. Many critics favored Ivy's new approach, although some found it less interesting compared to the material on Apartment Life. Commercially, the album fared well in both Japan and the United States, but did not peak on any significant record chart.

Three singles were released from the album. "Lucy Doesn't Love You" and "Disappointed" were both commercially unsuccessful, while the album's third single, "Edge of the Ocean", appeared in numerous films and television programs and has since been considered the band's signature song. The songs "Undertow" and "Worry About You" were also used in media. "Worry About You" was used as the theme song for the ABC miniseries Kingdom Hospital. Promotional music videos were created for both "Lucy Doesn't Love You" and "Edge of the Ocean".

Shortly after the release of Apartment Life (1997), Ivy began work on a new studio album; however, the band was dropped by their label, Epic Records, shortly after the reissue of Apartment Life was released. After the end of their contract with Epic, and lead singer Dominique Durand's pregnancy, the New York City studio where Ivy regularly recorded music burned down. In order to forget about these events, Ivy resumed recording sessions, and began incorporating influences from new wave. Member Adam Schlesinger detailed the album's exploration of different genres: "The first songs [we] recorded were jangly and simple and straight-ahead. We started gravitating toward the groovier, slightly more melancholy stuff. It works well with Dominique's voice."

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Wikipedia