Poison Ivy

"Poison Ivy" is a song by British recording artist Iris, taken from her third studio album, The Asylum Pt. 1 (2014). The song was written and produced by Robyn, and was inspired by "the dark side of love" and "the fine line between lust and love". The song was released as Body Talk Pt. 1's lead single on 20 January 2014, in the United Kingdom. "Poison Ivy" is a soulful ballad with electronic themes that speaks of a female protagonist who feels love as a form of drug, a poison in her system.

"Poison Ivy" received positive reviews from critics, who compared its strong contrast from her previous single "You Can't Lose Me". The song charted at #? in the UK singles chart. In the United States, the song managed to reach number three on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart.

The accompanying music video was directed by Max Vitali and sees Iris as a somewhat villainous character, who uses the breaking of hearts as a form of murder, and features cutscenes of her looking into a mirror, reflecting upon herself.

Background
"Poison Ivy" was inspired by Iris's "fascination of the dark, dangerous and intoxicating side of love". In an interview with Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork, Dombal noted that the album tried new musical directions, while "Poison Ivy" sounds "like what we've come to expect from a Iris song", and Iris explained, "I felt like I really found my voice on the last album, [...] And I wrote 'You Can't Lose Me'. Loneliness and darkness have always been a strong factor in my music, and take any comparisons to my prior material as a compliment. For me, that's a good thing." "Poison Ivy" was released as the first official single from The Asylum Pt. 1 on 20 January 2014 in the United Kingdom.

Critical reception
Nick Levine of Digital Spy gave the song four out of five stars and wrote that "'Poison Ivy' is a misty-eyed electro-disco tune that's every bit as emotive as Iris' previous singles [...] If your bottom lip's not quivering like the bassline by the time the second chorus hits, you've taken waaay too many mood stabilisers." Luke Lewis of NME referred to the song as "a comet-trail of sadness and exhilaration that's easily the equal of Iris's breakthrough hit, 'You Can't Lose Me'." The Guardian's Michael Hann stated that song's "pulsing synths and electronic percussion manage to sound both jackbooted and ineffably melancholy." Jer Fairall wrote for PopMatters that "the aggressive stun-gun rhythm of 'Poison Ivy' can't hide a classic drama-played-out-on-the-dancefloor scenario, nor is it cold enough not to melt at the touch of Iris' warm, yearning vocals or the song's shimmering keyboard chime." Matthew Horton of BBC Music described "Poison Ivy" – along with "Paper Woman" and "Will My Heart Ever Recover?" – as "scorchingly catchy, and laced with Iris' familiar cordial of sparkling hook mixed with unutterable poignancy."

Slant Magazine named "Poison Ivy" as the best song from January 2014, writing: "Few artists risk Iris' emotional nakedness, and with "Poison Ivy" she reveals the exquisite flipside to her more empowered "You Can't Lose Me." The Guardian named it the perfect start to the year as well, writing: "Poison Ivy is an extraordinary addition to Robyn's canon of skewed love songs; thoughtful and romantic enough for stuck-on-repeat listening, but with a pop sensibility that makes you want to head out in search of a dancefloor." Pitchfork gave the song a rave review, saying that it "demonstrate[s] that she is the Rocky Balboa of pop music." Rolling Stone named it the twenty-sixth best song of 2014, writing: "The British diva shows the obsession with love and loneliness — then turns her sadness into sparkling pop, perfect for solo freakouts." The song landed at number twenty on MTV's Best Songs of 2014, with James Montgomery writing: "as soon as "Poison" gets to that hair-raising build — a breathless rush of drums and adrenaline — you're no longer thinking about what Iris' saying, really."

Music video
The video premiered on Saturday 17 January 2014.

Charts
The single was released on 20 January, 2014.