Izzy Outerspace Drops Debut EP

Quarantine times have given us all some space to think about ourselves the and the world around us, and for Izzy Outerspace, it’s given her just the right amount of room to craft the sort of debut record we needed to hear in 2021. Titled Amazon, Izzy Outerspace’s first trip into the recording studio is marked with a heavy influence from surrealism, but it isn’t shoved together with a lot of fluff and dynamic bombast in the case of songs like “Spare Time,” “Wildfires” and “Home.”

This is an EP that for all intents and purposes needs to be treated as a full-length album, not because of its length but because of the multilayered event that it presents audiences with upon first giving it a spin. Here, our leading lady isn’t trying to explain humanity; she’s instead focused on trying to figure out herself and her place within the big picture of life, which I personally find to be a heck of a lot more relatable than any other route could have been. We’re at a crossroads in the history of popular music, and on the alternative side, singer/songwriters like this one are making a new era all the more exciting to follow. 

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/izzyouterspace/

Vulnerability is presented in a couple of different fashions in Amazon, with the instrumental components of the title track or “Vietnam” conveying just as much of an exposed feel as the lyrics in “Wildfires” or “Stars” would. There’s definitely a rustic element to the string play in “Jump” and even the electrifying “Spare Time” that introduces some mortality into the narrative of the music, but not enough for the lyrics to ever sound suffocated by the angst of the harmony they’re made to be a part of. Izzy Outerspace has a reflective lyrical wit that she doesn’t mind un-holstering for “Home” and “Empty” the same, but she’s careful to avoid using excessive dream imagery when putting together a verse. That’s been a common problem among a lot of the competition in 2020, and clearly it’s something she wanted to avoid when putting together this absolutely spellbinding debut release. 

APPLE MUSIC: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/izzy-outerspace/1532099842?ign-gact=3&ls=1

Both cerebral in style and stunningly personal at its core, Amazon is undeniably the best rookie disc I’ve heard in 2021 so far, and if you think there hasn’t been enough time to cut a substantial amount of music this January, you’re in for one heck of a surprise in the next few weeks to come. Artists are chomping at the bit right now and still feeling more than a little cooped up from the past year spent off of the road and either inside of – or thinking about – the studio, but I don’t know that Izzy Outerspace should rush back into the recording process just yet. I think she needs to let her creative juices simmer and work on developing a plan for her live performances; until those can be carried out, I think Amazon acts as a good way for new fans to get to know one of the hottest up and comer’s in the game today. 

Michael Rand