Vinyl of the Week: Izy, “Irene”
This debut album from local outfit Izy (pronounced eye-zee), called IRENE, comes out today. This beautiful soul record is from a Melbourne-based trio originally hailing from Cairns in Australia’s tropical North. Containing 10 tracks with a raw neo-soul groove, rich vocal harmony and subtle jazz guitar. There’s a deep warmth to their sound with remnants of D’Angelo and Curtis Mayfield throughout, but still resonates a clear distinct sound that will come now to be known as the Izy sound.
The album is named after Irene, Guitarist Ryo Montgomery’s paternal grandmother; an important source of support and comfort in the band’s formative years. In their own words: “This album is a tangled culmination of interpersonal relationships; love, society and land. We three are super blessed to share stories and when we connect, we amplify and respond to each other, which makes it easy to create music and get our message across for our family and our community.”
Out today on Melbourne label, Hopestreet Recordings. It also happens to be this week's feature album on PBS106.7FM - nice.
