Image: Harshvardhan Shah.
Seventeen year old musician Isaac Dunbar has dropped his hotly anticipated EP, evil twin. Featuring the singles pink party, intimate moments and love, or the lack thereof, the release is accompanied by a nostalgia fuelled visual for fan behaviour.
Coining the term 'self-aware alternative-pop', Dunbar brings his skilful lyricism to the collection of songs, set a top a shimmering soundscape of infectious beats with bursts of synth-driven energy. Written and produced by the singer, Dunbar offers listeners a shared experience, offering fans an insight into his mindset whilst intending to make a real connection with deep lyricism. Paired with his compelling vocals and memorable melodies, Dunbar has created a standout body of work.
Speaking of the release, Dunbar shares: "evil twin is a display of my current state of mind in regards to my artistry and ego. A part of me wants to make the experimental music i love to listen to, and the other half of me loves the pop music; so i had my evil twin sing the experimental records and i sang the pop records.'
Dunbar has thought a lot about what he wants to put out into that culture and the impact it can have, how he wants people to feel and for them to know they are not alone. Gowring up a mixed-race, artistic, 'flamboyant' kid, artists such as Lady Gaga left an impact on the musician, who launched his career in 2017 with his breakthrough song Pharmacy, posted to on Soundcloud in 2017. Always having loved to sing, he taught himself to play piano and keyboards from YouTube tutorials. When he was 10, he noticed that Lady Gaga had tweeted a list of producers she worked with on her album ARTPOP. One of them was French house producer Madeon. He recalls; 'I saw that he had this program called FL Studio. I illegally downloaded it at a Barnes & Noble. And that’s how I taught myself to produce music.'
Now, Dunbar has continued to carve his own unique lane, resulting in himself being one of the most critically heralded new artists in 2020. After supporting girl in red on her North American and European run of shows in 2019, Dunbar released his highly anticipated debut EP balloons don’t float here.
evil twin is out now!