Izris: “Forever” – atmosphere and transcendence
Izris is a Lo Fi Alternative Hip Hop Producer from the UK influenced by J Dilla, Madlib, Flying Lotus and STLN DRMS. To accomplish the transcendence of his sound, Izris implements the tricks of handfuls of different musical languages. Sometimes it’s the ecstatic energy of hip-hop, other times the slow sway of atmospheric ambient, and even others the psychedelic hooks of trip-hop. On his latest track, “Forever”, he has blended a bit of all into the mix. Musicianship goes a long way, but it’s awe-inspiring to watch someone like Izris – a producer who both understands and revels in the type of melodic capriciousness that makes his music so appealing.
“Forever” assumes the identity of a low-flying symphonic escapade, sonically resembling a handful of instruments in a warm jam mode. It sounds like 2 minutes of sublime existential awareness, meeting mind-bending surrealism.
Both of which have a heady and hallucinatory effect. Izris’ work carries all the usual genre staples: Basslines that stumble and roll their way towards the liquid jazz fusion-ish keys held up by a thumping kick drum and snare.
Hip-hop styled beats are not generally equated with atmosphere and transcendence, but Izris provides a great example of how hip-hop can be just as otherworldly as other genres. Ultimately, this is a story being told without any words.
The only clue to the story-line is given to us by the title “Forever”, the rest relies entirely on the music and your own interpretation. That’s the interesting thing about instrumentals, a great deal of its meaning depends on your own mindset.
However the music creates the mood meant to trigger your imagination, and this is what Izris pulls off so impressively. Hooks are in short supply, the emphasis lying instead on shifting underlying melodies and unpredictable hazy textures.
This induces the mind to search and discover the pallet of hidden motifs buried underneath what sounds like a linear arrangement on the surface. The fuzzy keys smoothly shimmer around a contemplative inner-space, where the origin of “Forever” resides right in the middle of everything.
It’s a cerebral and beguiling head trip, but yet it is also an easy listen. Izris has got a veteran’s knack for intuitive manipulating of his beats and finding appropriate sounds to match his themes, and “Forever” never loses sight of these pleasures of his craft.
The surprising achievement of this track is how capably it interprets its theme in the space of one minute and forty one seconds. That kind of innately concise composing, requires reflective introspection and rigorous mixing, without losing creativity along the way.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise if Izris is steadily pushing his art forward. Unlike some of his electronic contemporaries he is not tied down by formulated song structures or trendy sounds. He is sonically proliferating in a thousand directions at once.
OFFICIAL LINKS: SOUNDCLOUD – TWITTER
