I love spaces where it feels like instruments are caressed while they accompany the voice. While I hope I don’t fall into cliche describing Izzy Oram Brown’s “I Believe”, there’s that lonely, far away drive feeling present in voices like Phoebe Bridgers, Christie McVie, and the confessional wave of tender yet piercing shows of altrock. The ethereal feel is gently rocked by a piano chord idling in the background, probably the most forward part of the instrumentation, lavished in waves of subtle beeps and boops scattered throughout. The electronic touch really does elevate the track, never as fully synthesized aspects of sound, but as larger than life embellishments that make it really easy to imagine this playing the sundown slot at a festival.
I played this song for my girl, who’s always on the lookout for tracks like these, while we baked some cookies and talked about how fucked the job market is. It made me feel I just might start a playlist to recount my faves in what very well may be its own genre, a very fine “rocking chair” feel to contrast a world that feels like it has lost its ground.
The single is the closing track to the singer’s sophomore album What I Want, a fantastic upcoming piece that touts contributions from multi-nstrumentalist Jesse Bielenberg (Altopalo, Jesse in Grey, Dora Jar) and drummer Connor Parks (Cafune, Little Mystery, Tony Vaz). The song left me in a daze, inviting me to continue listening to whatever I could get my hands on from the record, and it’s a fascinating, genuinely timeless impart that feels right at home on a playlist of things you’ll play a million times over.
Take a listen to “I Believe” below:
Written by Charlotte Lacambra
