Emerging from the shadows and into the spotlight, Izzy Reign has crafted an electrifying collection of tracks that push boundaries into a compelling and emotionally charged sonic experience, with her self-titled debut album out now on FiXT.
It’s been escribed as “a culmination of Izzy’s raw power and genre-defying artistry, reflecting personal struggles, societal critiques, and a hauntingly raw beautiful dive into the human psyche.”
Also out now, is new single ‘Lite-Brite’ about which Reign said: “This song is written from the standpoint of experiences in my own life. Where the only thing that got me through several, tough, isolated situations growing up, was playing music as loud as possible and surrounding myself with beautiful colorful lights. A hyper focus of the two combined helped ignore any of the issues that I did not want to face in that time. My hidden place.
“I wanted to bring the same sensation of how my experiences were. Heavily playing with one of the only music styles I listened to at the time, the combination of 90s/ early 2000s techno and also the dark emotion that I kept to myself. Most people may not notice but most EDM songs at the time all carried sad stories but portrayed such innocent and beautiful melodies that made you feel happy, regardless of what the song was actually about, and I really wanted to bring that back into my current music catalogue.
“Writing this one was definitely an emotional rollercoaster for me. Haha, Forcing myself to re-live and feel sad for my child self, and also incredibly angry for them. It is a lot to take on but important to work through these things to get past them.
“I hope that by putting these out in the open, I can encourage people to work through their broken foundations , and be able to grow into the better version of themselves. That it is okay and healthy to acknowledge pain in your past, and that it is necessary in order to move forward.”
‘Bird Of Prey’ was her previous single. That song captures the perspective of an antihero, someone who doesn’t shy away from confronting harmful people head-on. With a cynical yet powerful tone, the track explores the concept of necessary evils, where the protagonist serves as the consequence for others’ harmful actions. Reign stresses the importance of standing up for the voiceless and holding others accountable, delivering a taunting message that there is no escape from the paths people choose.
“‘Bird Of Prey’ was written from the viewpoint of the villain’s Villain. The not quite a hero but more of an anti hero, Reign explained, continuing: “I grew up with the standard of a zero tolerance for crappy people. That if I saw someone causing harm, I would cause said person double the amount.
“I made it clear that I would never be the cause, but always the result. Is it the best way to go about things? Probably not, but sometimes, a necessary evil is a good thing. Really wanted to portray a powerful yet semi-cynical vibe in this song. A more taunting feeling of saying, there’s no escape. That you chose this path, now here are the consequences. I encourage people to always stand up for those who do not have a voice of their own and hold them accountable. Always have and always will. Sometimes, the right thing to do, is to make it your problem.”
Before that came the haunting ‘Phobos’ that delves deep into the unsettling world of panic attacks, drawing from personal experience to convey the overwhelming and unpredictable nature of these episodes. With raw emotion and vivid descriptions, the song captures the sensation of air thinning, heartbeats overpowering, and the inevitability of panic despite any attempts at control. Through ‘Phobos’, Reign seeks to resonate with those who have faced similar battles, whether through the struggle to resist the attacks or the resigned acceptance of their recurrence, creating a visceral sonic journey of anxiety and resilience. This song is about the experiences of having panic attacks. A true understanding of how they feel and how at complete random they can occur.
In her own words, “I spent many years of my life undergoing random panic attacks, which felt like, for no reason at all, but upon learning and understanding how much the subconscious stress levels of your brain truly affect the physical responses of your body, it seemed to make more sense. I struggled with this for a long time and as many people have experienced themselves, it can take a major toll on one’s everyday life.
“However, I wrote this song in regards to this becoming my norm, and when I felt the coming on, I just had to take them steps to prepare and let them pass. The inevitable would happen, regardless of how in control I felt or how much I changed my situations/surroundings. I wanted to give the feeling of what a panic attack felt like to people who have gone through the many different stages of them. Whether or not they let it consume them, the sensation of the air around them thinning, or your heart beat being the only thing you can hear, or the other side of acceptance, almost, in a way, being annoyed that you have to sit down and ground yourself to prepare for what you’re already used to.”
Available to stream on all digital platforms, with an accompanying video you can check out the single here at RAMzine. Izzy Regin’s album can be ordered here.
