IZ.M.B. might still only be 20 years old, but she’s worked her entire life so far honing her musical talents. It wasn’t always her goal; when she entered high school it was with the intention of one day becoming a doctor. But given she started performing in choir at the tender age of 5, and then took up guitar, bass, mandolin, and piano, starting writing songs at 15, it should come as no surprise that she realised medicine wasn’t what she was cut out for. With her new single, ‘Recover’, along with its stunning lyric video, we’re very grateful she came to this realisation.
Mentored by Ian Macaulay, Arnez Hayes, and Kim Crutchfield, who encouraged her to keep pursuing the arts, IZ.M.B’s first single, ‘Not Guilty’, released in 2020, led to her debut album, ‘Blue Collar Romeo’, and gave her plenty of room to show off her well-curated lyrics and melody making. Now, with her latest single, ‘Recover’, from her upcoming long-player, ‘Nowhere Town’, we see IZ.M.B. showcasing the same talent, but combined with her evident growth.
‘Recover’ is just one part of the vulnerable, reflective stories IZ.M.B. has to share on her new album, which she describes as being like a personal diary, delivered through a collection of songs. At first listen, ‘Recover’ is a break-up song, about the difficulty of restoring all the broken parts of you after the relationship failed; but a deeper dive reveals much more, when you take into consideration that both single and album were written entirely during the Covid-19 pandemic. When examined from this perspective, we see ‘Recover’ as standing for building a life after a time where milestones and major life moments have been postponed or dismissed entirely – in this respect it’s something we can all relate to, as we try and move on from what we’ve experienced the past two years.
It’s been IZ.M.B.’s goal to separate herself from her music, so previously she has kept her appearance hidden. But in truth her music reveals a lot about her, and we can see the artist for who she really is, as she pours out her entire being into her songs. With ‘Recover’, she chose to release a lyric video, and says about the decision,
“I wanted people to really truly read the lyrics, and I wanted them to see what I was saying”. This has certainly been achieved, as the words stand out against a purple and black background, which also features illustrations of a possibly haunted hotel, a phone, a wolf, and IZ.M.B. herself.
Watch the video for ‘Recover’ below, and keep up to date with IZ.M.B. and her music on Instagram.
