ISAAC DUNBAR
If Isaac Dunbar revealed himself to actually be a time traveler, it would make perfect sense…
The Rhode Island-born and Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer leaps between Broadway levels of theatrical bombast, skyscraping stadium rock hooks straight out of the seventies, nineties-esque alternative spirit, and larger-than-life two-thousands pop extravagance. There’s nothing subtle about him—and the world is better for it. Isaac’s keen emotional intuition and artistic acuity belie his age, and at just 19-years-old he has asserted himself as the rare talent who gleefully defies genres, rules, and eras all at once. Following acclaim from Time, Billboard, Teen Vogue, Nylon, The FADER, NPR, and more, the Afro-Italian-American crash lands as the outlier we need right now with his 2022, Banish The Banshee EP via RCA Records.
He doesn’t disguise his ambition either…
“I make sure all of my projects are conceptual,” he states. “It has to have a narrative. If not, it’s boring to me. The stories connect. You’ll hear my theatrics, my eccentricities, and all of the weird parts of myself. I’m tapping into my youthful nature. I make music because I want to inspire people of all paths of life to be themselves. I’m here to represent anyone who feels alien. I’m big on self-love and healing, and the best way for me to do that is through music.”
As legend has it, Isaac was born in Providence to an Italian mom and Liberian father. He bounced between Rhode Island, Texas, and finally Cape Cod. After he discovered Lady Gaga, the floodgates opened, and Isaac wrote, recorded, and produced music of his own, finding an escape from the incessant bullying of peers. Inspired by Artpop producer Madeon, he devoured YouTube tutorials and learned how to cook up beats. He dove down a rabbit hole of endless inspiration, listening to not only Gaga but The Velvet Underground, David Bowie, Jeff Buckley, Cocteau Twins, and Aphex Twin, in addition to the soundtracks for Skyrim and Minecraft, as well as African music and reggae. He shut down a school talent show with AURORA’s “Runaway” and built a fanbase in high school before gaining traction on Soundcloud with “Woman On The Hills.”
In between opening for girl in red during 2019, he unveiled music at a prolific pace. “onion boy” racked up over 19 million Spotify streams, while balloons don’t float here instantly reacted with audiences. At 16-years-old, he inked a deal with RCA Records and served up isaac’s insects in 2020 and evil twin in 2021. The latter boasted “love, or the lack thereof,” amassing north of 14 million Spotify streams. Along the way, VMAN attested, “an expert autodidact, Dunbar’s impressive knowledge of music theory and diverse tonal range have set the young vocalist apart from cookie-cutter pop.”
Living in New York before moving to Los Angeles in 2022, he crafted his boldest, brightest, and biggest offering yet in the form of Banish The Banshee, adopting an alter-ego known as “The Banshee.”
“I was inspired after watching The Sound of Music,” he says. “I didn’t sleep for two days and created the title track, which is a play. I figured I might as well spill the beans on my life. I want my listeners to get a better understanding of who I am and where I come from. The whole EP consists of parables narrated by The Banshee. Traditionally, a banshee is a very loud singing Celtic creature. She’s a soprano who sings so loud it hurts people’s ears. During my childhood, I felt like a banshee—I was a sensitive, somewhat feminine little boy. I was bullied. I felt ‘other’ and isolated. I personified the play of my life in this record, and it’s fun!”
He teased out the EP with the boisterous “Bleach” and Studio 54-ready banger “Tainted Love” before opening up on the emotionally charged “Fool’s Paradise.” The FADER hailed the latter as “Shakespearian” and observed, “the ever-theatrical pop musician plays tug of war with his own emotions after waking from a coma to find that the main source of his emotional torment is gone.” The opener and single “Sunburn” rides a thick bassline towards claps and swaggering vocals. Funkified guitar kicks in as he moans, “Oh, you’re making it worse, ‘cause all your kisses linger like a sunburn.”
“It’s about someone trying to lend a hand to me, but I end up snapping at this person,” he admits. “Sometimes, if I’m in a bad mood and someone tries to console me, I’ll find every way to be cynical and shut down any solutions.”
Meanwhile, the sticky “Gummy” struts towards a guitar-lifted chant, “I’m talking ‘bout sex, whether you like it or not,” punctuated by unbridled screams and falsetto. Then, there’s the epic title track “Banish The Banshee” and the accompanying “This Is An Intermission,” which closes out the EP. Luminous synths underline his warbling vocals as he confesses, “I want what I can’t have, and that’s okay.” He freestyles the string-inflected “This Is An Intermission” as a dramatic crescendo of stream-of-consciousness that leaves you wanting more, “I want to be here for very long, so please enjoy the song.”
“Ultimately, ‘Banish The Banshee’ is the villain origin story,” he explains. “It explains the roots and why ‘The Banshee’ made all of the decisions it did. It’s the swan song. Everything is aired out and digested, so ‘The Banshee’ isn’t doing it again. The ‘Intermission’ is a bit of a cliffhanger.”
Now, Isaac leaves you wanting more as his next era begins.
“I’ve grown up and realized I have a voice,” he concludes. “I’m the leader of my own life. This translates into the music. I embraced the beauty in directness and tried to one-up myself. I’m ready for whatever is next.”
