A few months ago, I reviewed ISO’s latest EP for VARSITY. The review hasn’t been published, so I thought I’d share it here.
Local music lovers know ISO (formerly known as “Isochronous”) as a rock band from Pretoria with four albums a number of local tours and a performance as the opening act for Two Door Cinema Club on their record.
The first time I heard ISO’s music was on a complimentary CD found in a copy of SL Magazine about 7 years ago. When I first heard the song “Beauty Queen”, I was surprised by how much I liked the guitar arrangements and the emotional vocals of the lead singer. Rock music was relatively new to me then, so this Isochronous stuff was intriguing.
I played the song on repeat for a few days, trying to figure out what it was about the lyrics that resonated with me. In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that even the simplest lyrics “meant something” to me in those days: a moody teen will hear what she wants to hear.
These days, ISO are writing less angsty, guitar-heavy songs and instead giving fans more dance-worthy music with synth- and piano-rock influences, as seen in their 2012 album, Piece by Piece. The lead single, No Fire, was a playlist favourite on national radio.
ISO recently released a 5-song EP titled Passages. And what exactly is an “EP”? It stands for “extended play”, which is music business lingo for a product that is longer than a single, but shorter than an album. Officially, an EP is a package of 3 to 5 previously unreleased songs, which are either completely unique, or didn’t make the cut for the final album. EPs give fans a more affordable way to access music, and are also promotional tools for musicians.
Putting together an EP requires less production effort than releasing a full-length album, so artists have more creative freedom. ISO’s lead singer Richard Brokensha commented on this in an interview with iAfrica, saying: “Having seen how much pressure the mixing process puts on the band members, we decided to let go a little and discover new paths.”
These “new paths” are the experiments ISO are doing with their sound in an effort to provide fans with quality music that shows the band’s growth as artists.
The first single off of Passages is called Never Going Back, and it is a nostalgia-driven lament about the loss of youth, which has a hopeful twist to it at the end. It is a great indication of what fans can expect from ISO’s new musical direction.
Passages is available for purchase from the iTunes store.
Nkhensani Manabe 