Genre: 60s-style Rock, Indie Rock, Surf Rock
“Don’t you know that I love you?”
When life gives you a local indie band, you make renditions of 60s rock. This is the case for Los Angeles natives, IZZY, who gave us their song, “I love you” off of their 2022 EP, “For Inez”. Bouncing in ¾ time, this song will give you all of the butterflies with the dreamy chord progression and Itzel’s soulful vocals about love. “I remember when I met you now let me tell you that I love you,” she sings, over the simple accompaniment of rhythm guitar, bass, and drums. While the song has a lot of charm, I was left wanting more from the vocal performance. In the beginning, the tone of Itzel’s voice is so pretty and quickly showcases her style, but towards the middle, her pitch dips a bit and doesn't land as strong as it could have . But, the song has a great presence and abides to a timeless formula that has worked for decades.
The band may be emulating an older style of music, but there’s still a bright, youthful essence that flows throughout the song. The lyrics are innocent and a confession of love for someone who is drifting away emotionally or physically. “Now that your arms are out of reach, I wish I could tell you that I love you.” Being distanced from a loved one is hard. Being distanced from someone who you never got to confess how you really feel about them is not as bad but still pretty rough. You never know what could’ve happened! It’s a stressful feeling, and Itzel does a great job at emoting it with the way she sings. It’s very soulful and has a nice tone to it. But, there are consistency issues with her pitch. After listening to “I love you” a few times, I noticed I was having trouble remembering the chorus. I think the melody wasn’t clearly expressed because a handful of the notes were off-key, maybe partially due to her overuse of vocal runs. Her tone is really warm and inviting and some of them are successfully done, but others get lost. I hear an incredible amount of potential in Itzel that I want to blossom! I just think she needs some more time to settle into her voice and polish her technique.
Regarding the rest of the ensemble, I think the form was well thought-out and successfully executed by each musician. I like the moments in the pre-chorus when some instruments don’t ring out for very long and your left with Itzel’s vocals for a second. These add some character and variety to the mix and avoids redundancy in the composition. Then the chorus erupts with energy given by the drums and the backing harmonies carried by some high notes from Itzel. I really like the difference in dynamics that shape the song and bring it to life.
Overall, “I love you” is a sweet song that is a good introductory to IZZY’s music. There are some issues with the vocal performance, but there’s a lot of potential exhibited by the passion and soul that I’m hearing from the band that could take them far.
Be sure to check out IZZY and stream their song, “I love you” off of their EP, “For Inez” out everywhere you listen to music!
For fans of:
Lunar Vacation
Alanis Morrissette
Follow IZZY on Instagram: https://instagram.com/izzytheband?igshid=MmJiY2I4NDBkZg==
Stream “I love you” on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/2FP2q94N6IfQhMIdEFXlBr?si=43TW_-WBRrSuufDPwCzaOg
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